The Indian diaspora cheered Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrived at the Sandton Sun Hotel on Tuesday, singing “Vande Mataram”.
Outside the Sandton Sun Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, Indians were waiting for PM Modi to arrive so they could greet him with ‘dhols’.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the first leg of his two-nation trip by flying into Johannesburg, South Africa.
“It is an honour indeed to be in the presence of the Prime Minister. He is a wonderful man and my hero,” says a woman of Indian origin in Johannesburg, South Africa.
PM Modi expressed his eagerness to meet with “some of the leaders present in Johannesburg” on a personal level.
“BRICS has been pursuing a strong cooperation agenda across various sectors. We value that BRICS has become a platform for discussing and deliberating on issues of concern for the entire Global South, including development imperatives and reform of the multilateral system,” PM Modi said in a statement.
The global economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa are together known as BRICS.
The BRICS summit will be held from August 22–24. The tour commemorates the 30th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between India and South Africa and will be PM Modi’s third visit to the country.
South Africa is in charge of the BRICS this year. This year’s summit is centred around the idea of “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism.”
Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the BRICS Summit has been held virtually for the past three years. This will be the first in-person summit in that time.
On Friday, the Prime Minister of South Africa will go to Athens, Greece, at Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ invitation.
