The Brics Summit in Johannesburg will be an opportunity to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he left for the meeting of leaders of the five-nation bloc. Prime minister Narendra Modi waves as he leaves for South Africa and Greece on Tuesday. (PTI Photo)

Modi also said in a departure statement that his subsequent visit to Greece – the first by an Indian premier in 40 years – is set to open a “new chapter in our multifaceted relationship”.

The issue of expanding the Brics (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) grouping is expected to top the agenda of the summit being held in Johannesburg from August 22-24. There has also been intense speculation about a bilateral meeting between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the summit.

This is the first in-person Brics Summit after three years of virtual meetings, and Modi said the bloc has pursued a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors. “This summit will provide a useful opportunity for Brics to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development,” he said.

Brics, he added, has become a platform to discuss issues that concern the Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system.

Modi, who is visiting South Africa at the invitation of President Cyril Ramaphosa, will also participate in the Brics-Africa Outreach and Brics-Plus Dialogue that are part of the summit activities.

“I look forward to interacting with a number of guest countries that have been invited to participate in this event. I also look forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg,” the PM said without giving details of the planned bilateral meetings.

Speculation has grown about a possible meeting between Modi and Xi on the margins of the Brics Summit following a string of diplomatic and military engagements between the two countries that have been locked in a military standoff in Ladakh sector for more than three years.

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Indian and Chinese corps commanders held their 19th round of talks on the standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Chushul-Moldo border point during August 13-14, and this was followed by several rounds of talks among local commanders that began on August 18.

From South Africa, Modi will travel to the Greek capital of Athens on August 25 at the invitation of his counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis. “This will be my first visit to this ancient land. I have the honour to be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece after 40 years,” he said.

“I look forward to my visit to Greece opening a new chapter in our multifaceted relationship,” he added.

Contacts between the Indian and Greek civilisations date back over two millennia, and ties between the two sides in modern times have been “strengthened by shared values of democracy, rule of law and pluralism”, he said.

Cooperation in diverse sectors such as trade and investment, defence, and cultural and people-to-people contacts have brought the two countries closer, Modi said.

Following a ceremonial welcome in Athens, Modi will visit the tomb of the unknown soldier and hold restricted and delegation-level talks with Mitsotakis. Both leaders will also address a business meeting and Modi will interact with the Indian diaspora.

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