INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi has confirmed his participation in the 15th BRICS Summit, scheduled to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to August 24.
The decision was announced following a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday.
During the call, the two leaders discussed various regional and global issues of mutual interest and expressed satisfaction with the progress in bilateral cooperation between India and South Africa.
The announcement comes after recent media reports that the Indian prime minister might not participate in person.
To recall, various media outlets reported that the government of India was weighing having Modi attend the meeting virtually considering the geopolitical developments that would see Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the summit online.
But on Thursday, India’s Spokesperson for External Affairs Ministry Arindam Bagchi refused to comment on the issue and told reporters not to believe in speculative media reports.
It can be noted that in July, Russia announced that Putin would participate in the BRICS Summit virtually, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov would represent him in person.
Meanwhile, Putin is set to visit Turkiye as announced by the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, although the office did not provide a specific date. The Kremlin confirmed the talks, noting that both presidents agreed to maintain bilateral contact on multiple levels.
Putin and Erdogan reached an agreement on a visit by the Russian president to Turkiye. Both leaders also reportedly talked about the Black Sea grain deal.
On the other hand, Russia is working to establish secure routes to supply the most vulnerable countries to provide free Russian grain.
According to the Kremlin, the matter was raised at the Russia-Africa summit last week.
The Kremlin also said Putin had expressed willingness to cooperate with Türkiye and other interested countries regarding the matter.
