• Source:JND
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BRICS Summit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday will embark on a visit to South Africa where he will attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held from August 22 to August 24 in Johannesburg. Leaders of the BRICS group (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) are expected to attend the first in-person summit since 2019.

PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will be in the same room at the BRICS Summit in South Africa. The question is whether there will be any bilateral talks between them.

Regarding the possibility of a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 15th BRICS Summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on Monday said that the prime minister’s schedule is still being developed.

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“The host country South Africa has invited a large number of guest countries, besides BRICS members. PM’s schedule, in terms of bilateral meetings with those leaders who would be present in South Africa, is still being developed…," Kwatra said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

PM Modi will depart for the BRICS Summit on Tuesday morning to join the leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa in Johannesburg. While Xi Jinping left Beijing for South Africa on Monday. Both leaders last met on the margins of the G20 Summit in Indonesia in November 2022.

Both leaders had a brief encounter at the dinner in Bali, Indonesia which was hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widido and this could be their first scheduled meeting since the border standoff started in May 2020.

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Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra also emphasised that India has a ‘positive intent’ and ‘open mind’ for the expansion of the five-nation grouping. "We have a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion," Kwatra said.

“There is considerable interest in many countries to become part of BRICS and to associate themselves with BRICS to leverage various opportunities that the alliance presents for itself,” Kwatra further added.

For the last three years, India and China have been in a stand-off situation and relations between the two countries have deteriorated at all levels due to tensions on borders.