New Delhi, Oct 21: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for Russia today to attend the 16th BRICS Summit on October 22-23 and also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of the group's members and other invitees.

This marks PM Modi's second visit to Russia this year.

The summit is the first since the expansion of the group to nine members, with Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the UAE joining this year after being offered membership in the 2023 summit in South Africa. Argentina and Saudi Arabia were also invited but the former declined after a change of government, while the latter is yet to respond.

PM Modi will visit Russia from October 22-23 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to attend the 16th BRICS Summit, being held in Kazan, under the chairmanship of Russia, the MEA said.

The summit, themed "Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security", will provide an important platform for leaders to discuss key global issues, it said, adding that the Summit will offer a valuable opportunity to assess the progress of initiatives launched by BRICS and to identify potential areas for future collaboration.

During his visit, the Prime Minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from BRICS member countries and invited leaders in Kazan, the MEA said.

As per Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, the BRICS summit in Kazan will host leaders from 24 countries and delegations from a total of 32 nations, making it the largest foreign policy event ever held in Russia.

Apart from the main BRICS meeting, there will be meetings in the BRICS+ format on the theme "BRICS and the Global South: Building the Future of the World Together" involving representatives from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.

While all the top leaders of all member countries - seven Presidents and two Prime Ministers - will attend, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and leaders of various aspirant countries, including Presidents Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, and others.

--IANS

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