Modi at BRICS Summit in South Africa

Omkar Dattatray

The Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi will visit Johannsburg South Africa to take part in the BRICS Summit and so he is all set to visit south Africa to be part of the deliberations and discussions of the leaders of the BRICS countries which work for the global South.PM Modi will attend 15^th BRICS summit in South Africa in person in three years .Prime minister Narebdra Modi left for South Africa on 22rd august Tuesday to take part in the 15^th BRICS summit ,a grouping of the world economies of Brazil ,Russia ,India ,China and South Africa .The summit is taking place from August 22to August 24. Notably  ,it will be the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings owing to the Covid -19 pandemic .

This will be PM Modi’s third visit to South Africa and the trip marks the 30^th anniversary of the diplomatic relationships between India and South Africa. In an official statement, the prime minister’s office said, ’’I am visiting the Republic of South Africa from 22-24 August 2023 at the invitation Cyril Ramaphosa ,president of South Africa ,to attend the 15^th BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg under the South African chairmanship .I look forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present at Johannesburg .’’For 15^th BRICS Summit ,a business delegation from India is also traveling to South Africa to attend the business Tracks meetings of the BRICS Business ,Council ,BRICS Women Business Alliance and the BRICS  Business Forum .’’

During his visit to South Africa ,PM Modi will also participate in a special event BRICS –Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue being organized after BRICS Summit ,which will include other nations invited by South Africa .In addition ,PM Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with some of the ;leaders present in Johannesburg .Amid the speculations around BRICS expansion and Chinas efforts to push the bloc into a geographical rival of G7 there are chances that PM Modi and XI Jinping will meet each other during the summit.PM Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese president XI Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit .Modi said ,leaving for South Africa to take part in the BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg ,I will also take part in the BRICS –Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue events .

The Summit will give the platform to discuss issues if concern for the Global South and other areas of development .Ahead of his visit to South Africa Modi said I am visiting the Republic of south Africa from 22-24 August 2023 at the invitation of H.E Mr.Cyril Ramaphosa ,president of south Africa ,to attend the 15^th BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg under the South African Chairmanship .BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors .We value that BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South ,including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system .

This summit will provide a useful opportunity for the BRICS to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development .During my stay in Johannesburg ,I will also participate in BRICS –Africa Outreach and BRICS –Plus Dialogue event that will be held as part of the BRICS Summit activities .I look forward to interacting with a number of guest countries  that have been invited to participate in this event .I also look forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg.PM Modi embarks on three day visit to South Africa to attend BRICS Summit .South Africa is hosting the BRICS Summit from August 22 to 24 at the city’s Sandston Convention centre .This will be the first in person BRICS summit since the covid -19 pandemic .Modi said the summit will give the platform to discuss issues of concern for the Global south and other areas of development .

BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South ,including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system .Modi expects that this summit will offer a useful opportunity for BRICS to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development .Leaders of BRICS nations –Brazil ,Russia ,India ,China and South Africa converged on Johannesburg on Tuesday for a summit where they will weigh expanding the bloc as some members push to forge into a counterweight to the west .Heightened global tensions provoked by the Ukraine war and a growing rivalry between China and USA have added urgency to a drive to strengthen the bloc ,which at times suffered from internal divisions and a lack of coherent vision .

The three day summit will be a platform for substantial discussions on global cooperation ,expansion and key bilateral meetings among BRICS nations .Russian president Vladimir Putin wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine ,will not attend personally but will attend virtually .Modi being a leader of world stature is attending the BRICS summit and he will provide good leadership to summit and will hold bilateral meetings with several leaders of the summit nations to further make this bloc useful and purposeful to solve the issues and concerns of Global South and it will protect the interests of not only this grouping but will help the global community as well .It is hoped that the BRICS summit will give useful suggestions for solving the issues and concerns of Global south .In short the leaders of BRICS bloc will discuss and deliberate on the issues ,concerns and problems of the Global south and this will indeed be a welcome development.

(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)