New Delhi’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, said on August 22 that India will be a very important part of the world’s growth. He invited the approximately 40 leaders attending the BRICS Summit in South Africa to be a part of India’s growth. India will soon become a $5 trillion economy and its reforms have made it easier to do business. The Prime Minister spoke at the end of the BRICS Business Council meeting and hoped that the summit will help them find ways to work together in the future. It will also consider allowing more countries to join. PM Modi said he was excited about talking and meeting with leaders from other countries while he was warmly welcomed by the Indian community in South Africa. The Prime Minister will have meetings with many other leaders, but the most important one will be with the President of China, Xi Jinping. PM Modi also said that the summit will be a chance to talk about problems that affect developing countries and other areas of growth. The summit officially started on Tuesday with a meeting for business leaders, where PM Modi and other leaders gave speeches. Then, they all met at a fancy house called Summer Place in Johannesburg for a break. South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa said that a bigger BRICS group will have countries with different political systems that want a fairer world order. PM Modi was welcomed by South Africa’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile at Waterkloof Air Force Base, where he received a special guard of honor. Other leaders from the BRICS countries, such as Xi, Lavrov, and Lula, arrived in Johannesburg. Lavrov is leading the Russian team because Putin is not there in person, but instead joined the summit online. Putin received applause when speaking at the BRICS Business Forum. In addition to Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emanuel Macron were also absent. They had wanted to go to the BRICS summit. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was added to the Summit at the last minute and will join on Wednesday. This is the first in-person meeting of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) since 2019. Members of the Indian community also welcomed the Prime Minister at the airport. Afterward, at the hotel, he met with Indian people who live in the same country as well as those who live in a different country. They were holding flags of their country and musical instruments. They were also saying “Bharat Mata ki Jai”. Two women who are part of the Indian community tied a special string called “rakhi” around Modi’s wrist in preparation for Raksha Bandhan on August 30th. The Prime Minister also saw a smaller version of the big Swaminarayan Mandir. It has been getting built since 2017 and will be finished next year. Earlier, in his statement before leaving New Delhi, Modi said that BRICS has been working closely together in many different areas. “We appreciate that BRICS has become a forum for discussing and considering problems that are important for all developing countries, such as development needs and changes to the global organization system,” he said. “More than 20 leaders from Africa and the Middle East have also been requested to attend, and many of them have applied to become members of BRICS. ” The Prime Minister will go to Greece on August 25th.
