Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa's Johannesburg on August 22-24 comes as a surprise to those who expected that he will follow the footsteps of Russian president Vladimir Putin and attend the summit virtually rather than physically.
It is also important for PM Modi to go to South Africa as close allies like Saudi Arabia, UAE apart from others want to join the institution.
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
Fact is that even though China tries to dominate the BRICS forum, India along with Brazil get to say their part in this multi-lateral institution.
It is also important for PM Modi to go to South Africa as close allies like Saudi Arabia, UAE apart from others want to join the institution. It is understood that some 25 countries have applied to join BRICS and a decision whether or not to expand the five-nation body will be taken at Johannesburg.
Earlier, PM Modi spoke to South African president Matemela Cyril Ramaphosa over phone. During the telephonic conversation, Ramaphosa invited the prime minister for the BRICS summit and briefed him on the preparations. The PM accepted the invitation and said he looked forward to his visit to Johannesburg for the summit.
{{^htLoading}} {{/htLoading}}
{{^usCountry}}
Both Modi and Ramaphosa exchanged the views on a host of regional and global issues of mutual interest.
{{/usCountry}}
{{#usCountry}}
Both Modi and Ramaphosa exchanged the views on a host of regional and global issues of mutual interest.
{{/usCountry}}
Ramaphosa conveyed his full support to India’s initiatives as part of its ongoing G-20 Presidency and said that he looked forward to visiting India to attend the G-20 Summit.
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.
Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.
Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.
Home/India News/PM Modi to attend BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug 22
{{^htLoading}}
Advertisement
{{/htLoading}}
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
{{#usCountry}}{{/usCountry}}
Hindustantimes wants to start sending you push notifications. Click allow to subscribe
