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Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi was on a four days visit to South Africa and Greece from 22 to 25 August, 2023. He attended the 15th BRICS Summit in Johannesburg. The summit was held under the theme ‘BRICS and Africa’. Prime Minister participated in the BRICS Business Forum Leaders Dialogue. He also attended the BRICS Leaders Retreat and deliberated on global developments with other leaders of the five-member bloc. This is the first in-person BRICS Summit after three consecutive years of virtual meetings because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his address to the BRICS Business Forum, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi highlighted several key aspects. He said that the BRICS Business Forum is one of the key pillars of intra-BRICS partnership among the BRICS countries. He also highlighted significance the significance of India’s growth story.
In the summit he also emphasized, that BRICS should also be a voice for Global South. And he also stated what has always been one of the driving impulses of India’s policy, which is a close partnership with Africa and to be a very strong, reliable, and dependent partner of Africa’s development journey.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi participated in the BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogue, on 24 August, 2023. The meeting saw participation from the guest countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America, along with the leaders of the BRICS countries. During his intervention, Prime Minister called for the BRICS to be the voice of the Global South. He underlined India’s close partnership with Africa and reaffirmed India’s commitment to support Africa in its development journey under Agenda 2063.
In terms of bilateral engagements on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister met with President Ramaphosa. He also held bilateral meetings with leaders from Ethiopia, Senegal, Iran, and the last one was Mozambique.
A major outcome of the BRICS Summit was the decision of the BRICS leaders to expand its membership to include six new members. These six members are, as was announced, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. Prime Minister has said, India has been fully supportive of the BRICS expansion based on whatever consensus is arrived at between the BRICS member countries. We would like to believe that expansion of the BRICS would make it stronger, will bring in the value proposition of the six new members to the functioning and to the engagement, intra-BRICS engagement.
PM’s visit to Greece
After attending the BRICS summit, PM Shri Narendra Modi visited to Greece on 25 August. In Athens, the capital of Greece, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi paid tributes at the ‘Tomb of Unknown Soldier’ in Athens. The Prime Minister laid a wreath at the ‘Tomb of Unknown Soldier’. He thereafter, inspected a ceremonial Guard of Honour.
PM Modi meets PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens
The two leaders held discussions in one-on-one and delegation-level formats. The Prime Minister expressed his condolences for the loss of life and property lives in the tragic incidents of forest fires in Greece. Prime Minister Mitsotakis congratulated
Prime Minister conferred with the
Grand Cross of the Order of Honour
During his visit to Greece,Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was conferred with the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour by H.E. Katerina N. Sakellaropoulou, President of Greece on 25 August 2023. He is the first foreign Head of Government to receive this honour.Prime Minister, on behalf of the people of India, thanked President Sakellaropoulou and the Government and people of Greece for this special honour. The award ceremony took place at the Presidential Mansion in Athens.
Prime Minister on the success of the Chandrayaan mission, terming it as a success for humanity.The discussions covered various dimensions of the bilateral partnership, including trade and investment, defense and security, technology, infrastructure, digital payments, shipping, pharma, agriculture, migration and mobility, tourism, skill development, culture, education and people to people ties. They also discussed regional and multilateral issues, including the EU, Indo-Pacific and the Mediterranean. They called for respect of international law, sovereignty and territorial integrity.Both sides agreed to elevate their relationship to a ‘Strategic Partnership’.
In Athens, he interacted with Indian community and academicians of Greece.