PM Modi travels to South Africa for BRICS Leaders' Retreat

Johannesburg: Along with other leaders of the five-member group, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached South Africa to discuss global developments during the BRICS Leaders Retreat on Tuesday.

PM Modi arrived here on Tuesday for his four-day tour of Greece and South Africa. At the president of South Africa's invitation, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, he will be in Johannesburg from August 22–24 for the 15th BRICS Summit.

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

"Reinforcing the intra-BRICS bonds! PM @narendramodi arrives at the Summer Place to participate in the BRICS Leaders Retreat. Warmly greeted by the host, President @CyrilRamaphosa of South Africa," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

'PM, along with other BRICS leaders will deliberate on global developments and leveraging the BRICS platform to find solutions to global challenges,' he said.

Earlier, the prime minister spoke at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue.

He viewed a model of the under-construction Swaminarayan Temple here before taking part in the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue.

'BRICS Business Forum gave me an opportunity to highlight India's growth trajectory and the steps taken to boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and public service delivery. Also emphasised India's strides in digital payments, infrastructure creation, the world of StartUps and more.

'India believes in ‘Make in India, Make for the World.’ Over the last few years, we have made immense strides in IT, semiconductors and other such futuristic sectors. Our economic vision also places immense importance on empowerment of women,' Modi posted on X.

BRICS grouping comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Meanwhile, media reports from Johannesburg said Chinese President Xi Jinping failed to show up at the BRICS Business Forum on Tuesday in South Africa, where he was expected to deliver a speech alongside his counterparts.

In his place, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao read the speech that criticised the US over its tendency toward “hegemony”.

Xi, in the speech read by Wang at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, said the US tended to fight countries that threaten its dominance in global affairs and financial markets.

The speech said that every country has a right to development and that people should have the freedom to pursue a happy life.

But one country is “obsessed with maintaining hegemony, has gone out of its way to cripple the emerging markets and developing countries”, he said in a veiled swipe at the US.

“Whoever develops first becomes their target of containment. Whoever is catching up becomes its target of obstruction,” Xi added.

Although he had arrived in South Africa on Monday evening, Xi skipped the business forum and no explanation was given, the report said.

With PTI inputs