@MEAIndia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a four day visit to South Africa and Greece this morning. In Johannesburg, South Africa Mr Modi will attend the 15th BRICS ( Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit.
In his departure statement, Mr Modi said that the BRICS Summit will provide a useful opportunity for the grouping to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development. He said, BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors. He said, India value that BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system. The Prime Minister said, he is visiting South Africa from at the invitation of President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa to attend the BRICS Summit being held in Johannesburg under the South African Chairmanship. Mr Modi said, during his stay in Johannesburg, he will also participate in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue event that will be held as part of the BRICS Summit activities. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to interacting with a number of guest countries that have been invited to participate in the event. Mr Modi said, he is also looking forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the Leaders present in Johannesburg.
He said, from South Africa, he will travel to Athens, Greece at the invitation of Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Mr Modi said, this will be his first visit to the ancient land. The Prime Minister said, he has the honour to be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece after 40 years.
He said contacts between the two civilizations stretch back over two millennia. Mr. Modi said, in modern times, the ties have been strengthened by shared values of democracy, rule of law and pluralism. He said, cooperation in diverse sectors such as trade and investment, defense, and cultural and people-to-people contacts have been bringing the two countries closer. The Prime Minister said, he is looking forward to his visit to Greece opening a new chapter in the multifaceted relationship."
BRICS" is the acronym denoting the emerging national economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The term was originally coined in 2001 as "BRIC" by Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill in his report . With the 13 th summit set to be held in Johannesburg, expansion is expected to be on the agenda dozens of countries including Saudi Arabia, Argentina, and Egypt are lining to join BRICS as west-led economic reform is not working. However, the most visible success for BRICS at an economic level has been the founding of the New Development Bank (NDB)in 2014. Since the lunch, NDB has financed almost 100 projects with 34 billion USdollar mainly in core infrastructure sectors (water. transportation, clean energy, digital, etc) that do not typically attract conventional frame of credit. According to a study by the mid-2030s, the NDB could reach a loan stock of 350 billion US dollars exceeding world bank finance.