Brics summit: PM Modi gets rousing welcome from Indian diaspora in Russia

Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a warm welcome from the members of the Indian diaspora and Russian citizens in Kazan.

The people who had gathered to welcome PM Modi sang Hindi songs and chanted "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata ki Jai".

People donned in traditional Indian attire waved Indian flag as they welcomed the Prime Minister. Also, placards praising the PM were raised by the members.

PM Modi warmly acknowledged them with folded hands and appreciated their gesture towards him.

Indian students in Kazan, members of the ISCKON, were amongst others who warmly welcomed PM Modi earlier in the day during his arrival at Hotel Korston. Russian nationals also sung Krishna Bhajans for his welcome.

The BRICS Summit is being held under the Chairmanship of Russia.

This visit marks, PM Modi's second visit to Russia this year. He travelled to Moscow in July to attend the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit where he held a bilateral meeting with President Putin. He was also conferred with Russia's highest civilian award, the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle at the Kremlin in Moscow.

BRIC, as a formal grouping, started after the meeting of the Leaders of Russia, India and China in St Petersburg on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in 2006.The grouping was formalized during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of UNGA in New York in 2006. The first BRIC Summit was held in Russia's Yekaterinburg in 2009.It was agreed to expand BRIC into BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa at the BRIC Foreign Ministers' meeting in New York in 2010. South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya in 2011.A further expansion of BRICS took place in 2024 with five new members - Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.