Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia during October 22-23 to attend the Brics Summit, the external affairs ministry announced on Friday amid growing speculation about the possibility of a meeting between the Indian and Chinese leaders on the margins of the event.
Modi is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit to be held in Kazan, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. China’s foreign ministry announced on Friday that President Xi Jinping will attend the summit being chaired by Russia.
Speculation has grown in diplomatic circles about a possible meeting between Modi and Ji on the margins of the Brics Summit following a string of meetings of diplomats to address the dragging military standoff on the Line of Actual Control, which is well into its fifth year. The face-off has taken India-China ties to a six-decade low, with New Delhi saying the overall relationship can’t be normalised without peace and tranquillity on the border.
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The Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs has met in July and August, and the two sides agreed at the last meeting to intensify contacts through diplomatic and military channels to narrow down differences and find an early resolution of outstanding issues on the LAC.
There has been no official word yet from India or China about a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.
The external affairs ministry said Modi will visit Russia at Putin’s invitation to attend the Brics Summit, the theme for which is “Strengthening multilateralism for just global development and security”. The summit will allow leaders to discuss key global issues, and also offer an opportunity to assess progress in initiatives launched by Brics and to identify potential areas for future collaboration, the ministry said.
Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from Brics member states and other leaders invited to the summit, the ministry said. Brics includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Saudi Arabia was invited to join Brics last year but has not done so yet.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters that Xi will attend the Brics Summit during October 22-24 and attend the leaders’ meeting and other activities. Xi will also have in-depth exchanges with other leaders on the international situation, she said without giving details.
China is ready to work with all parties to promote Brics cooperation, usher in an era of self-reliance in the Global South and promote peace and development across the world, Mao said.
During a meeting with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in St Petersburg in September, Putin had proposed a bilateral meeting with Modi in Kazan on October 22 to “close the books on our joint work in implementing the agreements reached during his visit to Moscow [in July] and outline some prospects for the near future”.
The bloc was formalised at the first meeting of foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China on the margins of UN General Assembly in New York in 2006. It was expanded to Brics with the inclusion of South Africa in 2010. Since its expansion last year, the grouping has a combined population of 3.5 billion, or 45% of the global population, and combined economies of the members are worth more than $28.5 trillion or almost 28% of the global economy.
Two key activities in the institutional development aspect of Brics during Russia’s chairmanship in 2024 are integration of invited countries as full members, and further development of the partner country model and a list of prospective partner countries, the people cited above said. India has supported the expansion of Brics as it will emerge as a stronger voice of the Global South with the new members, one of the people cited above said.
