Will PM Modi meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at BRICS Summit in Johannesburg?

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads out to Johannesburg to attend the fifteenth BRICS Summit, hypothesis is rife on whether or not he’ll meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Though there is no such thing as a official phrase on whether or not PM Modi and President Xi Jinping can have a bilateral assembly on the sidelines of the summit, possibilities of their shaking palms and putting a dialog are robust as they’d be in the identical venue for almost two days. Besides, with the G20 Summit across the nook, some pleasantries shall be exchanged based mostly on which Xi Jinping will come for the summit in September, says a supply.

The upcoming BRICS Summit (twenty second to twenty fourth August) would be the first in-person summit after 2019.

“Schedules of PM Modi’s bilateral meetings in Johannesburg are still being finalised,” mentioned Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday.

India and China’s standoff has continued for the reason that Galwan clashes in 2020. PM Modi and Xi Jinping did have a dialog in the course of the G20 Summit in Bali in November 2022, the place the duo mentioned stabilising ties.

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Since Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend the assembly just about, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is predicted to have a gathering with PM Modi, in keeping with a supply.

Meanwhile, a enterprise delegation shall be accompanying PM Modi and he would even be addressing the Indian diaspora.

“There could be conversations regarding trade in local currencies amongst partner nations as there are many countries with which India has begun trade in national currencies. The most recent addition is the Rupee-Dirham trade that was launced in the UAE recently,” mentioned Kwatra.

Rubbishing rumours of the potential of a typical foreign money for BRICS, Kwatra mentioned that having a single foreign money is a protracted and arduous course of. The EU took almost 5 many years to reach at it, apart from nations must be on the similar stage of improvement, he mentioned.

Another main improvement that’s being awaited on the BRICS meet is the inclusion of extra members. It is reported that almost 23 functions have been submitted from completely different nations to change into members whereas in throughout 40 have proven curiosity. Amongst these more likely to be thought-about are Iran, UAE and Saudi Arabia. Formally launched in 2009, the BRICS now accounts for 23 per cent of the worldwide GDP and 42 per cent of the world’s inhabitants. The mixed bloc represents greater than 16 per cent of the world’s commerce.

Meanwhile, after attending the BRICS Summit, PM Modi will go away for Athens on an official go to.

“The visit to Greece would give both sides an opportunity to discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest and help broaden and deepen our bilateral engagements,” mentioned Kwatra.

Greece is a vital associate for India within the EU because it was additionally a gateway to the EU market. Defence and safety partnership would be the core of discussions.

“Greece has amongst the best navies in Europe and we will be looking at partnerships in defence and even co-production. Migration and mobility partnership is also on the cards,” mentioned Kwatra. This would be the first go to of an Indian PM to Greece since 1983.

“PM Modi will have a meeting with his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsokais and discuss ways to strengthen the ties between both nations,” he added.

NEW DELHI: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads out to Johannesburg to attend the fifteenth BRICS Summit, hypothesis is rife on whether or not he’ll meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The upcoming BRICS Summit (twenty second to twenty fourth August) would be the first in-person summit after 2019.googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );