BRICS leaders arrive for plenary sessions, PM Modi, Xi stand apart in family photo

Johannesburg [South Africa]: The BRICS leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, arrived at the Sandton Convention Centre to attend the plenary sessions.

Prior to attending the sessions, the leaders posed for a BRICS family photograph.

Significantly, PM Modi and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping were seen standing apart from each other as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa held their hands together.

Other than PM Modi, Jinping and Ramaphosa, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Brazil President Lula da Silva were also in the BRICS group photo.

The plenaries are scheduled to be followed by a cultural performance and a banquet dinner hosted by President Ramaphosa.

PM Modi arrived in South Africa on Tuesday and received a ceremonial welcome at Waterkloof Air Force Base.

Upon his arrival, PM Modi received a rousing welcome from the Indian diaspora chanting ‘Vande Mataram’.

The members of the Indian community were waiting for PM Modi’s arrival and welcomed him amid lusty drumbeats outside the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg.

The opening day of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg was witness to the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue.

In his address at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue, PM Modi said India will soon be a 5 trillion dollar economy and in the coming years will be the growth engine of the world.

PM Modi’s special message to the dialogue was that mutual trust and transparency can help create a big impact, especially in the Global South.

BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

This is the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.