Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have a series of engagements between Tuesday and Thursday at the BRICS Summit hosted by South Africa and this includes his addresses to the BRICS Business Forum and BRICS plus meetings besides engaging with the strong Indian diaspora in the country that shares historical ties with New Delhi.
Modi with address the Indian diaspora in South Africa on Tuesday. On day two of the visit, he will participate in the two-leader level BRICS Summit platforms, ET has learnt.
This will be followed by BRICS-Africa outreach meet and BRICS-BRICS Plus dialogue on day three of his visit to South Africa, ET has further learnt. On the sidelines of the BRICS Summit and retreat, the PM is expected to meet several leaders of other BRICS states besides the invitees.
Speculations are rife that Modi might meet the Chinese President in South Africa on the sidelines of the BRICS meetings. If this meeting happens it will be the first structured bilateral dialogue between the two leaders since 2019.
Apart from the agenda of BRICS expansion, BRICS leaders will engage with businesses during the BRICS Business Forum and engage with the New Development Bank, BRICS Business Council, and other mechanisms during the summit.
South Africa took over the rotating presidency of the BRICS from China on January 1, 2023. Consequently, the African nation announced the theme of the summit as “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism”.
As the president, South Africa has listed a wide array of priorities for the summit, which include Developing a partnership towards an equitable just transition; transforming education and skills development for the future; unlocking opportunities through the African Continental Free Trade Area; strengthening post-pandemic socio-economic recovery and the attainment of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and strengthening multilateralism, including working towards real reform of global governance institutions and strengthening the meaningful participation of women in peace processes.
