Prime Minister’s second visit to Russia this year — he visited Moscow for a bilateral summit on July 8-9. During his visit, Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and leaders invited to Kazan.
All Eyes On Modi At BRICS Summit In Russia
PM Narendra Modi will visit Russia from October 22-23 at the invitation of President Vladimir Putin to attend the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. This will be the Prime Minister’s 2nd visit to Russia this year — he visited Moscow for a bilateral summit on July 8-9. During his visit, Modi is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and leaders invited to Kazan.
China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that President Xi Jinping will attend the Kazan summit from October 22 to 24. During his visit, Xi will attend the leaders’ meeting, the expert leaders’ dialogues and other activities, and have in-depth exchanges with leaders on the current international situation, Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson, said.
While Modi is going to have a bilateral meeting with the Russian President, all eyes are on a possible bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the summit. The theme of this year’s summit is ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’.
MEA said. “The summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration,” the Ministry said.
Putin hopes to build up BRICS – the grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa has expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE – as a powerful counterweight to the West in global politics and trade. This is a major multilateral summit for the Russian President after two-and-half years of war with Ukraine, and he is projecting it as a power moment for the Kremlin despite Western sanctions.
Putin is also keen to push the Arctic Sea route and the North-to-South corridor, linking Russia to the Gulf and Indian Ocean through the Caspian Sea and Iran. “It is the key to increasing freight transportation between the Eurasian and African continents,” he said.
