PM Modi to attend BRICS Summit in Johannesburg
BRICS Summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. "President Ramaphosa invited the prime minister for the BRICS summit being hosted by South Africa on August 22-24, and briefed him on the preparations for the same," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said atfter PM Modi's talks with Ramaphosa. "The prime minister accepted the invitation and conveyed that he looked forward to his visit to Johannesburg to participate in the summit," the MEA said.
The BRICS Summit s scheduled from August 22 to 24. The Summit would extensively talk about the expansion of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to include more countries. For inclusion, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Iran, Indonesia and Kazakhstan are some of the countries that have shown interest in joining BRICS.
"We have seen some baseless speculation that India has reservations against the expansion. This is simply not true," MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing earlier in the day. "We have talked about India's position on expansion and we have clarified our position in the past.
As mandated by the leaders last year, BRICS members are internally discussing the guiding principles, standards, criteria and procedures for the BRICS expansion process on the basis of full consultation and consensus," he added. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that the grouping will be further strengthened with the addition of new members. "We believe that in one form or another, the expansion of BRICS will contribute to the further development and strengthening of this organisation," he said.
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