Modi to visit Russia for 16th BRICS Summit next week, likely to hold bilateral talks with member countries

The 16th BRICS Summit is scheduled to be held on October 22-23 in Kazan, Russia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Russia to attend the event.

It will be Modi's second visit to Russia this year. He last visited Moscow in July to attend the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit.

During the upcoming visit, PM Modi is also expected to hold bilateral meetings in Kazan with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and invited leaders.

“The Summit, themed ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security’, will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

It said: “The Summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration.”

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin extended an invitation to PM Modi, proposing a bilateral meeting on October 22 on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan. He had referred to Modi as a “good friend.”

The Kremlin, quoting President Putin, said in a statement, “We will be expecting Mr Modi in Kazan. I also suggest holding a bilateral meeting there on October 22 to close the books on our joint work in implementing the agreements reached during his visit to Moscow and outline some prospects for the near future.”

“Please extend my warmest regards and best wishes to Mr Modi, my good friend,” the statement added.

The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St Petersburg, Russia, in 2006.

After a series of high-level meetings, the first BRIC summit was held in Russia's Yekaterinburg in 2009.

In September 2010, the group was renamed BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member.