PM Modi to attend BRICS Summit in South Africa next week; will also visit Rwanda, Uganda

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will next week visit Rwanda and Uganda before heading to South Africa to attend the BRICS Summit during which key global issues, including international peace and security, are expected to be discussed.

The prime minister, who will visit the three countries from June 23-27, will first stop in Rwanda for a two-day "historic" visit, the first by an Indian premier, T S Tirumurti, secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), told reporters at a briefing here.

He will then head to Uganda on July 24 and from there to South Africa.

Modi will attend the 10th addition of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg during which the grouping's leaders are expected to deliberate on global hot-spot issues, international peace and security, global governance and trade issues among others, Tirumurti said.

On the sidelines of the summit, the prime minister is also expected to meet some leaders bilaterally, he said.

Asked if there would be a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Tirumurti said, "At this point, we don't have a fix on the bilaterals and with which country."
Asked if India and China were competing for influence in Africa with President Xi also visiting Rwanda just before Modi, the senior MEA official said, "We don't look at relations with African countries through the perspective of relations with another country."