PM Modi arrives in Brazil to attend 11th BRICS summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brasilia on Wednesday on a two-day official visit to attend the annual session of BRICS, a grouping of five major world economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The 11th BRICS summit will focus on strengthening ties among the five countries in key areas such as digital economy, science, and technology, as well as in building mechanisms for counter-terrorism cooperation. The theme of this year's summit is 'Economic Growth for an Innovative Future'.

Taking to Twitter upon his arrival, Modi expressed hope that the summit will enhance cultural and economic linkages between member nations.

"Reached Brazil to take part in the BRICS Summit. Will also meet various world leaders during this visit. I am sure the BRICS Summit will enhance cultural and economic linkages between BRICS nations," Modi tweeted.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to hold several bilaterals with leaders of the member nations, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro.

This year the joint working group on counter-terrorism has decided to constitute five sub-working groups on counterterrorism in the following areas: Terrorist financing, use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, countering radicalisation, issue of foreign terrorist fighters and capacity-building, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

In the area of counter-terrorism, India has taken the lead over the years to galvanise BRICS. It has worked closely within BRICS to not only take a strong stand against terrorism but also to bring about focused consultations on specific aspects related to terrorism.

It is expected that India will chair the subgroup on use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, it added.

Through a network of high level and working group meetings, the BRICS agenda has expanded considerably to include issues of mutual concern. In the run-up to the summit, several ministerial meetings in different sectors have already taken place.

This is Prime Minister's second visit to Brazil and his first visit after the new administration led by president Bolsonaro assumed office on January 1, 2019, the ministry said, adding that the Prime Minister had met Brazilian president in Osaka earlier this year on the margins of the G20 summit.