PM Modi Visits South Africa and Greece: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday released a video shortly after Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on a two-nation visit to South Africa and Greece.
???? As PM @narendramodi is heading to Johannesburg, take a look at what PM’s visit to South Africa & Greece has in store. pic.twitter.com/H9PiW1592C— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) August 22, 2023
PM Modi will attend the BRICS leadership summit in South Africa’s Johannesburg. The BRICS Summit is being held under South Africa’s chairship this year.
The video highlighted that this is the 10th time that Prime Minister Modi will attend the BRICS Summit. While the 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions of the BRICS leadership summit were held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic, PM Modi attended the BRICS summits in 2018 in Johannesburg, 2017 summit in China’s Xiamen, chaired the 2016 summit in Goa, attended the 2015 summit in Russia’s Ufa and also attended the 2014 summit in Fortaleza in Brazil.
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The BRICS nations represent 42% of the world’s population along with a significant 27% of the global GDP and also accounts for 16% of total global trade. The theme of the summit this year is BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism.
India was the president of the BRICS group in 2021 which coincided with the 15th anniversary of the grouping. Over 150 events were held in India under the theme BRICS@15: Intra BRICS Cooperation for Continuity, Consolidation and Consensus. The chairmanship or the presidency of BRICS is a rotational one.
Under India’s leadership, for the first time, BRICS Digital health summit and 1st BRICS Water Ministers’ Meeting were held. The BRICS counterterrorism action plan was adopted and the BRICS alliance for green tourism was launched. BRICS agricultural research platform was operationalised and an agreement was signed on BRICS remote sensing satellite constellation.
India also chaired the BRICS summit in 2016 and 2012.
PM Narendra Modi said that he will participate in BRICS–Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue events. These events are being held as part of the BRICS Summit activities. “I look forward to interacting with a number of guest countries that have been invited to participate in this event. I also look forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the Leaders present in Johannesburg,” PM Modi said.
PM Modi Visits Greece
PM Modi will travel to Athens, Greece on Friday at the invitation of counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The video shared by the MEA highlighted that this is the first time PM Modi is visiting Greece and also the first time in 40 years that an Indian Prime Minister has visited Greece.
India and Greece relations date back to 2,500 years ago and formal diplomatic relations were established in 1950. Bilateral trade between Athens and New Delhi stands over $1.94 billion.
India has been involved in infrastructural development in Greece. In February 2020, India’s GMR Airports Ltd was awarded a construction project worth €850 million for an airport in Kasteli, in Greece’s Crete Islands whose foundation stone was laid by Greek PM Mitsotakis.
This year the Indian Air Force also participated in the INOCHOS-23 multinational air exercise hosted by Greece. INS Chennai also participated in a Passage Exercise with a Hellenic Naval Ship in Aegean Sea in July this year in Souda Bay, Crete.
Both nations have agreements for cooperation in the fields of science and technology.
Greece is also home to a strong Indian diaspora with over 11,300 Indians living there.
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