PM Modi Meets BRICS Foreign Ministers

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted top diplomats from BRICS countries on Thursday as New Delhi kicked off a high-stakes conclave of the influential bloc’s foreign ministers. Among the guest dignitaries who made a joint appeal to the Prime Minister were Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Abbas Araghchi from Iran, Mauro Vieira from Brazil, Sugiono from Indonesia and Ronald Lamola from South Africa.

The meeting hosted by India took on greater significance as the influential bloc grapples with the economic fallout of the West Asian crisis, particularly severe energy supply disruptions and Washington’s trade and tariff policy.

India, which is the chairman of BRICS, will host a two-day conclave of cardinals from Thursday ahead of the annual summit in September.

Originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, BRICS expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates in 2024, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

It has emerged as an influential grouping because it brings together 11 of the world’s major emerging economies, representing approximately 49.5 percent of the global population, approximately 40 percent of global GDP, and approximately 26 percent of global trade.

The BRICS meeting will be chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.