Covid-19, Afghanistan situation on agenda of BRICS Summit

The covid-19 pandemic and the situation in Afghanistan will be high on the agenda of the 13th BRICS Summit that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair on Thursday, the Indian foreign ministry has said.  

The summit be taking place in the virtual format due to the pandemic, the statement from the foreign ministry said.  

“The meeting will be attended by the President of Brazil, Jair Bolsanaro; President of Russia, Vladimir Putin; President of China, Xi Jinping; and President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa,” it said.  

“India’s National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, President of the New Development Bank, Marcos Troyjo, the pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Business Council,  Onkar Kanwar and pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, Dr. Sangita Reddy, will present reports on the outcomes pursued this year under their respective tracks to the Leaders during the Summit,” it said.

The theme for this year’s summit is ‘BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus.’ 

India had outlined four priority areas for its chairship of the summit, the statement said, adding that these were “reform of the multilateral system, counter terrorism, using digital and technological tools for achieving SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and Enhancing People to People exchanges.” 

“In addition to these areas, the leaders will also exchange views on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic and other current global and regional issues,” the Indian statement said.

This is the second time that Modi will be chairing the BRICS Summit. Earlier he had chaired the Goa Summit in 2016.