Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday left for the 15th BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg from 22-24 August under the South African Chairmanship.

#WATCH | Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi departs for Johannesburg, South Africa. He is visiting South Africa from 22-24 August at the invitation of President Cyril Ramaphosa to attend the 15th BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg under the South African Chairmanship. pic.twitter.com/hRy220autL — ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

In his departure statement, PM Modi said the summit would give participants a useful opportunity to pinpoint potential areas of future collaboration and assess institutional growth.

BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors, he added.

PM Modi’s departure statement ahead of his visit to South Africa and Greece | “I am visiting the Republic of South Africa from 22-24 August 2023 at the invitation Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, to attend the 15th BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg under the… pic.twitter.com/GPt1pzBFEg — ANI (@ANI) August 22, 2023

“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.

Noting that he will also participate in the ‘BRICS Africa Outreach’ and ‘BRICS Plus Dialogue’ events that will be held as part of the summit activities, PM Modi said he looked 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,” he said.

PM Modi is visiting the South African city from 22 to 24 August to attend the 15th BRICS summit at the invitation of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

It will be the first in-person summit of BRICS comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, since 2019.

From South Africa, the Prime Minister said, he will travel to Athens, Greece on 25 August at the invitation of his Greece counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis, he noted that this will be his 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.

Contacts between our two civilizations stretch back over two millennia and, in modern times, our ties 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 been bringing our two countries closer, he added.

He looked forward to visiting Greece and opening a new chapter in our multifaceted relationship, PM Modi said.

With inputs from agencies