A compelling case for pragmatism
When Chinese President Xi Jinping landed in Macau, the world’s gambling capital, the air was thick with anticipation. Macau,often dubbed the “Las Vegas of the East,” is much more than a beacon of wealth and opulence.
Amid the ongoing Sino-Indian military stand-off at Eastern Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come face-to-face virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he chairs the 13th BRICS Summit on 9 September.
Apart from Modi and Xi, the meeting will be attended by Brazil President Mr Jair Bolsanaro; Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
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India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, President of the New Development Bank, Marcos Troyjo, the pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Business Council, Onkar Kanwar and pro tempore Chair of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, Dr Sangita Reddy, will present reports on the outcomes pursued this year.
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The theme for the Summit is ‘BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus’. India had outlined four priority areas for its chairship. These are Reform of the Multilateral System, Counter Terrorism, Using Digital and Technological Tools for achieving SDGs and Enhancing People to People exchanges.
In addition to these areas, the leaders will also exchange views on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and other current global and regional issues, an official release said today.
This is the second time Prime Minister Modi will be chairing the BRICS Summit. Earlier, he had chaired the Goa Summit in 2016. The Indian Chairship of BRICS this year coincides with the 15th anniversary of BRICS, as reflected in the theme for the summit.
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