India steps up three-week diplomatic outreach ahead of Brics Summit

Modi, Sitharaman, Jaishankar, Goyal and Doval are leading a diplomatic push spanning key capitals and multilateral meetings ahead of the September Brics Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his key ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal, and National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval are part of India’s ongoing robust three-week diplomatic outreach that will last until the second week of September, when New Delhi hosts the Brics Summit.

 

On Tuesday, Finance Minister Sitharaman was scheduled to begin her eight-day official visit to Canada and the United States. Meanwhile, Jaishankar concluded his two-day visit to Russia on Monday evening, and Goyal is currently in Japan with a 200-strong Indian business delegation. NSA Doval on Tuesday held the Special Representatives talks in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the India-China boundary question.

 

 

Sitharaman, Jaishankar and Goyal were in Singapore on August 20. India and Singapore signed agreements to strengthen bilateral cooperation in telecommunications and broadcasting, maritime heritage and food safety.

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, later this month to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, to be held on August 31-September 1. He is likely to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders during the Summit. 

 

India will host the Brics Summit on September 12-13, which both Putin and Xi are slated to attend, along with leaders of South Africa, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

 

Sitharaman’s visit to Canada is taking place as New Delhi and Ottawa are working to conclude their Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) by the end of 2026, with the objective of doubling bilateral trade by 2030. Canadian PM Mark Carney visited India earlier this year. Canada’s minister for international trade, Maninder Sidhu, is slated to lead a Canadian trade mission to India from October 12 to 17.

 

In Toronto, Canada, Sitharaman will participate in the inaugural Economic and Financial Dialogue with Canada's Finance and National Revenue Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. She will also engage with senior Canadian business leaders at another roundtable.

 

During the US leg of her visit, Sitharaman will participate in an investor roundtable in Chicago. The finance minister will then travel to Asheville, North Carolina, where she will lead the Indian delegation at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting under the US presidency of the grouping on August 31 and September 1. She will also visit New York. The G20 Summit will take place in Florida on December 14-15.

 

On Monday, Jaishankar held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow. He also called on the Russian President and co-chaired a meeting with Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). At the meeting, Jaishankar flagged the widening trade imbalance between Russia and India and the need to address it.

 

Jaishankar suggested that each working group of the IRIGC-TEC must prioritise deliverables to be achieved before its next session and actively engage in problem-solving. He called for strengthening engagement with businesses. The holding of INNOPROM in India in the coming weeks is a very good signal in that regard, Jaishankar said. The industrial exhibition will be held from September 9 to 11 at New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam and offer Indian businesses potential trade and investment opportunities in Russia.