Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses BRICS Summit virtually, lays out plans for next year

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday virtually participated in the open plenary session of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. During his address, Vladimir Putin mentioned that next year Russia will assume the BRICS chair and will take several steps to strengthen multilateralism for global development and security.

"Next year Russia will assume the BRICS chair. In our chairmanship, we will have the following mottos- strengthening multilateralism for global development and security; we plan to have some 200 political, economic, and public events; BRICS summit is scheduled for October 2024 in the city of Kazan" Russian President Vladimir Putin said as per news agency ANI.

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa for the 15th BRICS Summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin is not attending the international event in person and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is leading the delegation of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized that the BRICS summit will provide the opportunity to discuss the areas of cooperation and review institutional development. "We value that BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system," he said.

"I also look forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the Leaders present in Johannesburg," he said.

PM Modi meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

On Wednesday, PM Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa reviewed bilateral relations and discussed the coordination between the two sides at the multilateral bodies. In a statement released after the meeting, the leaders “expressed satisfaction at the progress achieved in various fields including defense, agriculture, trade and investment, health, conservation, and people-to-people ties.”

PM Modi is also expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and it will be watched closely as for more than 3 years now the armies of both nations are engaged in a standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“We welcome the move to give special importance to the countries of the global south in BRICS under the chairmanship of South Africa. India has also given importance to this subject under its G20 presidency,” PM Modi said during the event.

"We should expand political and security cooperation to uphold peace & tranquillity. The Cold War mentality is still haunting our world and the geo-political situation is getting tense. BRICS countries should keep to the direction of peaceful development & consolidate the BRICS strategic partnership. We need to make good use of the BRICS Foreign ministers' meeting, a meeting of high representatives on national security & other mechanism; support each other on our core interests and enhance coordination on major international and regional issues. We need to tender good offices on hotspot issues pushing for a political settlement and lowering the temperature..." Chinese President Xi Jingping said.