BRICS Summit 2023: Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit South Africa
New Delhi : His Excellency Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will be physically present at the BRICS Summit 2023 in Johannesburg this year, confirmed Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday.
BRICS Summit 2023 has been scheduled for August 22-24.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly called Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to tender an invitation to attend the BRICS 2023 Summit, he also briefed him about the preparations of the event in his country.
According to the External Affairs Ministry's statement, the Prime Minister has accepted the invitation and expressed anticipation for his visit to Johannesburg to attend the summit.
Earlier, it was reported that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi may skip the travel and join the Summit virtually, like the Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russia has notified that Vladimir Putin will be joining the summit virtually, while foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will lead a delegation to Johannesburg.
Modi's presence at the summit opens up the possibility of a potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines. The two leaders have not met since the military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in May 2020. However, they briefly exchanged pleasantries and discussed the importance of stabilizing bilateral ties during a dinner encounter at last year's G20 Summit in Indonesia.
