In a “productive meeting” on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Ethiopian colleague Abiy Ahmed Ali spoke about ways to increase bilateral cooperation in sectors including capacity development, trade and investment, defense, and agriculture.
On the same day that the BRICS leaders formally accepted Ethiopia’s membership in the group, Prime Minister Modi met with the head of Africa.
“Had productive discussions with PM @AbiyAhmedAli. felicitated him on Ethiopia’s BRICS membership. We spoke on how to strengthen links in areas like commerce, defense, and interpersonal relationships, Modi said in a post on platform X, previously known as Twitter.
According to his office, the two leaders spoke about measures to strengthen bilateral connections between their respective nations. Prime Minister Modi also welcomed Ethiopia as a new BRICS member.
The two leaders conducted a “constructive meeting,” according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. “PM congratulated PM @AbiyAhmedAli on Ethiopia’s participation in BRICS. Bagchi said on platform X, “PM @AbiyAhmedAli welcomed India’s support for Ethiopia’s membership in the BRICS family.
According to Bagchi, Prime Minister Ali congratulated Prime Minister Modi on the Chandrayaan mission’s accomplishment and called it a source of pride and inspiration for Ethiopia and the Global South.
“Discussions covered ways to expand bilateral cooperation in areas like parliamentary contacts, development partnership & capacity building, trade & investment, defence, ICT, agriculture, skilling of youth, and people-to-people linkages,” he said in a separate post.
Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Brazil were officially accepted as new members of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) on Thursday, capping a protracted process.
At a joint media event with Prime Minister Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the decision was announced by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
According to Ramaphosa, the additional members will join BRICS as of January 1, 2024.
The President of Senegal, Macky Sall, and Prime Minister Modi met and spoke about a variety of topics during their meeting.
“Had discussions in Johannesburg with President @Macky_Sall. Senegal is considered as a partner in development by India. In our discussion, we covered a variety of topics, including energy, infrastructure, defense, and more,” Modi wrote on X.
An official from the MEA said that the two leaders had a “fruitful meeting” during which President Sall praised Prime Minister Modi for the Chandrayaan mission’s accomplishments and remarked that they serve as an example for the Global South. “He (Sall) appreciated the PM’s leadership in advocating for the priorities of the developing world,” Bagchi said.
The president of the AU commended the prime minister for India’s efforts to secure AU’s permanent membership in the G20. The two leaders spoke about ways to increase cooperation in fields such commerce and investment, defense and security, energy, mining, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, railroads, capacity development, culture, and interpersonal relationships, according to a post on X by the spokesperson.
The 15th BRICS meeting was attended by Modi, who began a three-day official visit to South Africa on Tuesday.
He conducted a bilateral discussion with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday during which they discussed the development of their relationship, exchanged opinions on local and international concerns, and discussed ways to collaborate to amplify the voice of the Global South.
On August 25, the prime minister of South Africa will go to Greece at the request of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, his counterpart in that country. It will be his first time in this remote country. Modi had said, “I have the honor to be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Greece in 40 years.”