SUDHIR KUMAR
Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a two-day visit to Russia from tomorrow to attend the 16th Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) Summit. The Summit is themed on Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security.
Prime Minister Modi will hold a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
Briefing reporters in New Delhi on Prime Minister’s visit to Russia, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, Mr Modi will depart for Kazan tomorrow to attend the summit. He said, India is a founding member of BRICS and has participated in all of its activities, initiatives and engagements since its inception. Mr Misri highlighted that India brings great value to BRICS and its contributions have played a vital role in shaping BRICS’ efforts in areas such as economic growth, sustainable development and global governance reforms.
The Foreign Secretary said the BRICS serves as a vital platform to tackle a range of global challenges. He said the focus of this year’s summit is on the integration of new BRICS members into BRICS cooperation mechanisms.
Mr Misri added that the two-day summit will also strengthen economic cooperation, promoting cooperation for energy and food security, healthcare and youth exchanges. The Foreign Secretary said this is the first summit that will be taking place after the first-ever expansion of BRICS last year at the Johannesburg Summit. Mr Misri added, the Summit will begin tomorrow but the main day of the summit will be held on Wednesday. He said that on the sidelines of the Summit, the Prime Minister is expected to attend a few bilateral meetings.