Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the XV BRICS Summit virtually through video conferencing in Johannesburg on August 14, 2023.
Moscow/New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi where he explained his inability to attend the G20 Summit to be held in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2023.
Putin informed that informed that Russia would be represented in the G20 Summit by the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.
While expressing an understanding of Russia’s decision, Modi thanked President Putin for Russia’s consistent support of all initiatives under India’s G20 Presidency.
The two leaders reviewed progress on a number of issues of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual concern, including the recently concluded BRICS Summit in Johannesburg.
The results of the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg were discussed with a focus on the importance of the agreements reached, primarily on BRICS’ expansion, which, Putin said, undoubtedly would promote the growth of its influence in international affairs. It may be mentioned that following a decision at the XV BRICS Summit, six new countries – Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – will join as new members of BRICS from January 1, 2024. BRICS currently has Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as members.
Modi and Putin agreed to closely collaborate in the context of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship, which starts on January 1, 2024.
Putin once again warmly congratulated the Indian Prime Minister on the successful touch-down of the Indian lunar lander, Chandrayaan-3, on the lunar south pole region. The sides confirmed their readiness to further develop bilateral space cooperation.
The discussion also touched on current issues of Russian-Indian relations, which, the Kremlin stated, “are developing progressively in the spirit of a specially privileged strategic partnership”.
Both Putin and Modi stated that the two countries’ trade and economic cooperation showed positive dynamics. They expressed their shared intention to consistently implement large-scale energy projects and work together to expand the international transport and logistics infrastructure.
– global bihari bureau
