Brics Summit: PM Modi to travel to South Africa for BRICS summit | India News

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to embark on a journey to Johannesburg this month to participate in a summit of the BRICS group of nations. The meeting, scheduled for August 22-24, will bring together the current five members of BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Before the summit, Prime Minister Modi had a phone conversation with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday.
During the call, President Ramaphosa expressed his interest in visiting India for the G20 summit later in the year.

In a tweet, PM Modi said, “Pleased to speak with President @CyrilRamaphosa. Reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation as we celebrate 30th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. Look forward to participating in the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg later this month.”
It’s worth noting that India currently holds the presidency of the G20 group and is gearing up to host a summit of G20 leaders in early September.
According to a Bloomberg report, China and Russia want to induct more nations to check the dominance of the US-led Western powers in global affairs. However, India has reservations about welcoming additional members into BRICS.
As reported already, Russian President Vladimir Putin will not travel Johannesburg to attend the BRICS summit in person because of an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin “has decided to take part” in the summit via video link.
Jim O’Neill of the American bank Goldman Sachs coined the term BRIC to refer to the four fastest growing emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China. In 2006, the foreign ministers of these four countries met for the first time in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. In 2009, they held their first summit in Yekaterinburg, Russia. In 2010, South Africa was invited to join the group, and BRIC became BRICS.