Express News Service
NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is headed to Johannesburg to attend the 15th BRICS Summit, everyone is eagerly watching whether he will meet Chinese President Xi Jingping. Though there is no official word on whether PM Modi and President Xi Jingping will have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit, chances of their shaking hands and striking a conversation are strong as they would be in the same venue for nearly two days.
With G20 Summit around the corner, some pleasantries will be exchanged based on which Xi Jinping will come for the summit in September, said a source. The BRICS Summit (August 22-24) will be the first in-person summit after 2019.
“Schedules of PM Modi’s bilateral meetings in Johannesburg are still being finalised,” said foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday.
The standoff between India and China has continued since Galwan happened in 2020. PM Modi and Xi Jingping did have a conversation during the G20 Summit in Bali in November, 2022 where the duo discussed stabilising ties.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the meeting virtually, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to have a meeting with PM Modi, according to a source. A business delegation will be accompanying PM Modi to the summit. The PM would address the Indian diaspora, too.
“There could be conversations regarding trade in local currencies among partner nations as there are many countries with which India has begun trade in national currencies. The most recent addition is the rupee-dhiram trade that was launched in the UAE recently,’’ said the foreign secretary.
Dismissing rumours of the possibility of a common currency for BRICS, Kwatra said that having a single currency is a long and arduous process. The EU took nearly five decades to arrive at it, he added.
Another major development expected at the BRICS meet is the inclusion of more members. It is reported that 23 applications have been submitted by different countries to become members while in all over 40 have shown interest.
Among those likely to be considered are Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Formally launched in 2009, the BRICS now accounts for 23 per cent of the global GDP and 42 per cent of the world’s population. The combined bloc represents more than 16 per cent of the world’s trade.
Meanwhile, after attending the BRICS Summit, PM Modi will leave for Athens on an official visit.“The visit to Greece would give both sides an opportunity to discuss the regional and global issues of mutual interest and help broaden and deepen our bilateral engagements,’’ said Kwatra.
Greece is an important partner for India as it is a gateway to the EU market. Defence and security partnership will be at the core of discussions. “Greece is among the best navies in Europe and we will be looking at partnerships in defence and even co-production. Migration and mobility partnership is also on the cards,’’ said Kwatra, adding that this will be the first visit of and Indian PM to Greece since 1983.
NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is headed to Johannesburg to attend the 15th BRICS Summit, everyone is eagerly watching whether he will meet Chinese President Xi Jingping. Though there is no official word on whether PM Modi and President Xi Jingping will have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit, chances of their shaking hands and striking a conversation are strong as they would be in the same venue for nearly two days.
With G20 Summit around the corner, some pleasantries will be exchanged based on which Xi Jinping will come for the summit in September, said a source. The BRICS Summit (August 22-24) will be the first in-person summit after 2019.
“Schedules of PM Modi’s bilateral meetings in Johannesburg are still being finalised,” said foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The standoff between India and China has continued since Galwan happened in 2020. PM Modi and Xi Jingping did have a conversation during the G20 Summit in Bali in November, 2022 where the duo discussed stabilising ties.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the meeting virtually, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to have a meeting with PM Modi, according to a source. A business delegation will be accompanying PM Modi to the summit. The PM would address the Indian diaspora, too.
“There could be conversations regarding trade in local currencies among partner nations as there are many countries with which India has begun trade in national currencies. The most recent addition is the rupee-dhiram trade that was launched in the UAE recently,’’ said the foreign secretary.
Dismissing rumours of the possibility of a common currency for BRICS, Kwatra said that having a single currency is a long and arduous process. The EU took nearly five decades to arrive at it, he added.
Another major development expected at the BRICS meet is the inclusion of more members. It is reported that 23 applications have been submitted by different countries to become members while in all over 40 have shown interest.
Among those likely to be considered are Iran, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Formally launched in 2009, the BRICS now accounts for 23 per cent of the global GDP and 42 per cent of the world’s population. The combined bloc represents more than 16 per cent of the world’s trade.
Meanwhile, after attending the BRICS Summit, PM Modi will leave for Athens on an official visit.
“The visit to Greece would give both sides an opportunity to discuss the regional and global issues of mutual interest and help broaden and deepen our bilateral engagements,’’ said Kwatra.
Greece is an important partner for India as it is a gateway to the EU market. Defence and security partnership will be at the core of discussions. “Greece is among the best navies in Europe and we will be looking at partnerships in defence and even co-production. Migration and mobility partnership is also on the cards,’’ said Kwatra, adding that this will be the first visit of and Indian PM to Greece since 1983.
