BRICS summit today: PM Modi, Xi Jinping to come face to face amid tensions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will once again come face-to-face at the BRICS Summit slated to be held virtually on Tuesday, November 17.

The two leaders will meet just a week after they (virtually) met at the SCO Summit. This is the second time PM Modi and Xi Jinping will attend the same virtual meet amid the ongoing and prolonged Indo-China standoff in Ladakh. The (BRICS) summit will focus on cooperation in energy, trade, health, counter-terrorism, and ways to counteract the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Besides the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsanaro will also attend the 12th summit of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) grouping.

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The summit will take place against the background of Indian and China's protracted and bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh, which has been going on for over six months. PM Modi and Xi Jinping met virtually for the first time, amid the ongoing standoff, on November 10 at the SCO Summit while the BRICS meet will be the second one.

"At the invitation of President Putin, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the 12th BRICS Summit hosted by Russia, under the theme 'Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth' on November 17," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

BRICS is a known as a powerful bloc representing over 3.6 billion people, half of the globe's population. The BRICS countries have a combined GDP of $16.6 trillion.

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The MEA added in its statement that the leaders would be debating intra-BRICS cooperation as well as core issues in the global context, comprising measures to alleviate the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, reform of the multilateral system, and cooperation in health, energy, trade, counter-terrorism, and people-to-people exchanges.

"India will be taking over the chair of the BRICS, which would be the third BRICS Presidency for India since its inception (after 2012 and 2016) and will host the 13th BRICS summit in 2021," the MEA said.

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