Chinese, Indian leaders to attend BRICS summit in Russia next week

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, held from October 22 to 24, their foreign ministries announced on Friday. Both leaders will participate in the summit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

During the summit, Xi will engage in the leaders' meeting, expert dialogues, and other scheduled events, where he will hold in-depth discussions with fellow leaders on the current global landscape, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular press briefing.

China is ready to work with all parties to promote BRICS cooperation, to usher in a new era of unity and self-reliance in the Global South, and jointly promote peace and development in the world, Mao said.

India's Ministry of External Affairs also confirmed Modi’s participation, stating that the summit focused on “strengthening multilateralism” will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues.

The Indian leader will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and other leaders in Kazan, Russia.

The 16th BRICS Summit is expected to provide an opportunity to review the progress of current BRICS initiatives and explore future areas of collaboration.

BRICS is an acronym for its founding members—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—representing a coalition of major emerging economies.

Russia has confirmed that, alongside leaders from the founding BRICS members, this year’s summit will also welcome top leaders from Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE, which joined the bloc during its first expansion this year, bringing the total membership to nine.

Saudi Arabia has been formally invited to join BRICS and will be represented at the Kazan summit by its foreign minister.

Türkiye has also expressed interest in joining BRICS. In June, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attended a two-day BRICS+ meeting in Moscow, the first gathering since the bloc’s expansion. Türkiye was among 15 countries invited to participate in the expanded format of the meeting.

According to reports, the combined GDP of BRICS has overtaken that of the Group of Seven (G7) bloc of developed economies. BRICS now accounts for 35.6 percent of global GDP in terms of purchasing power parity, compared to the G7's 30.3 percent share

Amid growing criticism over the war in Ukraine, Russian President Putin has framed the summit as a key opportunity to bolster BRICS' role as a counterbalance to Western influence on the global stage.

Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said last week that 32 countries confirmed their participation in the BRICS summit in Kazan.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Ushakov said 24 states will be represented by their heads and eight others by high-ranking officials. In addition, heads of several international organisations, including the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will participate in the event.