PM Modi departs for 4-day visit to S Africa and Greece, will attend 15th BRICS Summit

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday departed for a four-day visit to South Africa and Greece.

In South Africa, PM Modi will attend the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg from August 22–24 at the invitation of the country's president, Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa.

Before departing on the visit, PM Modi said on X, formally known as Twitter, "I will also take part in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue events. The Summit will provide a platform to discuss issues of concern for the Global South and other areas of development.'

PM Modi said that he looks forward to holding bilateral meetings with "some of the leaders present in Johannesburg".

"BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors. We 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 PM said in a departure statement.

This year's BRICS is under the presidency of South Africa. The theme of this year's summit is "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism.".

This will be the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Following his visit to South Africa, the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to Greece on August 25 at the invitation of his Greek counterpart, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

"This will be my first visit to this ancient land. I have the honour to be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece after 40 years," the PM said, according to the release.

"On August 25, I will be visiting Greece, a nation with whom India has had civilizational contacts for centuries. I look forward to talks with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. I will also be interacting with the Indian community there," he said. (UNI)