BRICS Summit 2023: Will PM Modi and Xi Jinping hold bilateral meeting?

There are speculations that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will hold a bilateral meeting. While there are reports about the same doing the rounds, there's no official confirmation yet.

This is the first in-person BRICS summit after 2019 as in the last three years, the summits were held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

While departing for the South African city, PM Modi said that he values 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.

He added that the summit will provide an opportunity for BRICS to identify future areas of cooperation and review institutional development.

But will he meet Xi? Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra was also asked about the same and he replied that it is "still being developed".

"We have a positive intent and an open mind when it comes to BRICS expansion," Kwatra said.

It will be PM Modi and Xi's first meeting since the India-China border crisis started in May 2020 if the bilateral meeting happens.

Last November, at the G20 dinner in Bali that was hosted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the two leaders had a fleeting encounter.

Watch: At least 40 nations have shown interest in becoming BRICS members

Inclusion of new members

The foreign secretary said the modalities for the inclusion of new members into the BRICS are being discussed among the Sherpas of the grouping. "I would not want to prejudge the outcome of the discussions," he said.

Kwatra said there is considerable interest in joining the grouping by various countries. Twenty-three countries have submitted their applications to join the BRICS and Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Argentina have emerged as strong contenders for the grouping's membership.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE