Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Rio de Janeiro next week to participate in the BRICS Summit, even as the absence of two of the group’s most influential leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, casts a shadow over the high-level gathering.
The summit, scheduled for 6–7 July, will mark the first in-person meeting of the expanded BRICS grouping since its enlargement earlier this year. With five new members added, the alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa now counts ten nations among its fold.
While Modi will be present in person and is expected to hold multiple bilateral meetings on the sidelines, Russia and China will be represented at a lower level. Moscow has deputed Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in light of the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant against President Putin. China will send Premier Li Qiang, marking Xi’s first-ever absence from a BRICS Summit.
According to diplomatic sources, Xi’s decision to stay away is likely linked to internal matters, although Beijing has issued no official explanation.
Also read: PM Modi likely to travel to Brazil to attend BRICS summit
A Diplomatic Tour de Force
The Brazil leg forms part of a larger five-nation tour that begins on 2 July. Modi is scheduled to visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia, a significant diplomatic outreach reflecting New Delhi’s efforts to deepen ties with nations across Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
He will begin his journey in Ghana, marking the first Indian Prime Ministerial visit to the West African nation in over three decades. This will be followed by a two-day official visit to Trinidad and Tobago, where he is expected to address a joint session of Parliament.
The third stop on the itinerary will be Argentina, where Modi will engage with President Javier Milei and discuss economic and strategic cooperation. His visit to Brazil will focus on multilateral dialogue within BRICS and India's evolving role in the expanded grouping.
The final leg will take him to Namibia on 9 July at the invitation of President Dr Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. This visit is expected to focus on energy cooperation, wildlife conservation, and developmental partnerships.
While BRICS has been widely viewed as a counterweight to Western-led groupings, the absence of both Putin and Xi underscores the shifting dynamics within the alliance at a time of geopolitical turbulence.
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