PM Modi to attend BRICS Summit in Johannesburg

Ending weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he will attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa, in a telephone conversation with Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s President.

“President Ramaphosa invited PM for the BRICS Summit being hosted by South Africa on August 22-24, 2023 and briefed him on the preparations for the same. PM accepted the invitation and conveyed that he looked forward to his visit to Johannesburg to participate in the Summit,” a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs reads.

Ramaphosa conveyed his full support to India’s initiatives as part of its ongoing G-20 Presidency and said that he looked forward to visiting India to attend the G-20 Summit, the release added.

The speculation about the Prime Minister’s attendance was caused by President Vladimir Putin cancelling his participation in the BRICS Summit. In March this year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Putin after reports of an effort to deport Ukrainian children to Russia surfaced. As South Africa is a signature to the Rome statute, which governs the ICC, the country may have been compelled to arrest Putin. This led to a raging debate in South Africa about whether the country should discharge its obligations. Eventually, Putin announced that he would not attend the summit in-person but would attend virtually.

“The two leaders positively assessed the progress in bilateral cooperation, including in the context of the thirtieth anniversary of establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations being celebrated in 2023,” the press release of Modi and Ramaphosa’s conversation says.

“They also exchanged views on a number of regional and global issues of mutual interest,” it concludes.

This year’s BRICS Summit is likely to see some expansion in the organisation’s membership, which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.