BRICS Summit South Africa: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Tuesday (August 22) depart for Johannesburg to attend the 15th BRICS Summit to be held in South Africa from August 22-24, said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra in a press conference on Monday. Kwatra said this will be the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that a business delegation from India will also be travelling to South Africa to attend the Business Tracks meetings and also the meetings of the BRICS Business Council, BRICS Women Business Alliance and the BRICS Business Forum.
"Prime Minister will depart tomorrow morning for Johannesburg where he would be participating in the 15th BRICS Summit that starts tomorrow and concludes on 24th August..," the foreign secretary added during the media address of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
He said, "The theme of the BRICS Summit this year is 'BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism'. This would be the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings owing to the COVID-19 pandemic..."
"For the 15th BRICS Summit, a business delegation from India is also travelling to South Africa to attend the Business Tracks meetings and also the meetings of the BRICS Business Council, BRICS Women Business Alliance and the BRICS Business Forum. After completing his engagements in Johannesburg, PM will travel to Greece for an official visit on 25th August at the invitation of PM of Greece..," Kwatra further said.
Informing about PM Modi's visit to Greece on a special invitation of his counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he said that both sides will look into ways to deepen and expand defence and security partnerships among other important areas.
"During PM Modi's visit to Greece, both sides will look to expand and diversify trade and investment segment of cooperation, deepen and expand defence and security partnership, infrastructure cooperation, shipbuilding industry...The visit would give both sides an opportunity to discuss also the regional and global issues of mutual interest and help broaden and deepen our bilateral engagement," he said in the MEA press briefing.
PM Narendra Modi's Tentative Schedule - August 22
All timings as per Johannesburg Local Time
1345 hrs - Arrive at Waterkloof Air Force Base
1600 hrs - BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue
1800 hrs - BRICS Leaders' Retreat