Brasilia: Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplaned Thursday for New Delhi after attending a ‘very productive’ BRICS summit in Brazil during which the member nations held dialogues on cementing ties in trade, innovation, technology and culture.
Narendra Modi arrived in the Brazilian capital of Brasilia to take part in the two-day meeting of the five major emerging national economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
“The BRICS Summit in Brazil has been a very productive one. We had fruitful dialogues on cementing ties in trade, innovation, technology and culture. The focus on futuristic subjects will surely lead to deeper cooperation that will benefit the people of our respective nations,” the prime minister tweeted before his departure from here.
This was the sixth time Modi participated in the BRICS summit, his first being at Fortaleza, also in Brazil in 2014.
“The bond of BRICS reaffirmed. PM @narendramodi emplanes for home after the successful conclusion of the 11th #BRICS Summit which saw BRICS countries expand their cooperation to new fields (and) set an ambitious course for themselves for leading the global future,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Twitter.
Modi also met Thursday South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and discussed a wide range of subjects.
“It was a delight to interact with my friend, President @CyrilRamaphosa during the BRICS Summit. We discussed a wide range of subjects during our interaction,” Modi tweeted.
The prime minister also expressed gratitude to the people and the Brazil government ‘for the excellent hospitality’ during the summit.
It should be stated here that Modi invited Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in 2020 during their meeting on the sidelines of the 11th BRICS Summit. Bolsonaro accepted the invitation with pleasure.
“India looks forward to welcoming President @jairbolsonaro for the 2020 Republic Day celebrations!” Modi later tweeted.
Brazil is the current chair of the grouping which represents over 3.6 billion people, or half of the world population and they have a combined nominal GDP of USD 16.6 trillion.
PTI