PM Modi to attend 12th BRICS Summit with Xi Jingping; focus on terrorism, trade
MEA also confirmed that India will host the next session of the BRICS summit in 2021.
FollowNew Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend XII BRICS Summit hosted by Russia today via videoconferencing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The summit will focus on cooperation in counter-terrorism, trade, health, energy, and ways to offset the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) summit is taking place at a time when two of the bloc's members, India and China, are locked in a military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
The theme for this year’s summit has been decided as ‘Global stability, shared security and innovative growth’ and the meet will be conducted in a virtual format, the ministry said.
The 12th Summit will see the leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa engage in topics ranging from intra-BRICS cooperation and key issues in the global context, the official statement read.
In addition to PM Modi, BRICS leaders Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Russian President Vladimir Putin are also scheduled to attend the summit.
“During the 12th Summit, held in the backdrop of the 75th Anniversary of UN and in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, leaders would be discussing intra-BRICS cooperation and key issues in the global context, including the reform of the multilateral system, measures to mitigate the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, cooperation in Counter Terrorism, trade, health, energy and people to people exchanges,” MEA said in a statement.
India will be taking over the chair ship of the BRICS, which would be the third BRICS Presidency for India since its inception, after 2012 and 2016, and will host the 13th BRICS Summit in 2021, the statement said.
