Modi at BRICS summit this weekend. Declaration to denounce Pahalgam attack

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five-nation tour beginning Wednesday, July 2, to participate in the BRICS Summit in Brazil. The visit comes at a time when India is trying to expand its ties with several key nations of the Global South.

This will be Modi's longest diplomatic visit in over a decade. The eight-day tour, which will last until July 9, will cover two continents and include visits to Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia.

BRICS summit on July 5-7

The BRICS leaders' declaration is set to denounce the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed in Jammu and Kashmir on April 22. The Indian Armed Forces launched Operation Sindoor on 7 May, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

The BRICS declaration is likely to call for a firm approach to unitedly confronting the challenge of terrorism in line with India's expectations, news agency PTI said.

Dammu Ravi, secretary (economic relations) in the external affairs ministry, said on Monday that the declaration's formulations regarding terrorism will be to our "satisfaction."

“There is no contradiction in the way the members have come out with their understanding, and their sympathy and their solidarity with India on Pahalgam,” Ravi said.

The BRICS is a forum for cooperation among a group of leading emerging economies. It includes 10 countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, the Russian Federation, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

The PM will attend the 17th summit of the BRICS leaders in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro from July 5 to 7, followed by a State Visit on July 8. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the summit.

The prime minister is travelling to Brazil and four other nations – Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina and Namibia – from July 2-9. The focus of the tour is to shore up bilateral cooperation in areas of critical minerals, defence and security, trade, digital public infrastructure and energy.

Expression of India's solidarity

Ravi told a media briefing that Modi's participation in the BRICS summit will be an expression of India's solidarity with the bloc and it will be a great opportunity for him to connect with the leaders of the Global South.

"I think that is very well captured, and I don’t have to go into details. When you get the declaration, you will see the language is much to our satisfaction," Ravi added.

BRICS brings together 11 major emerging economies, representing around 49.5 per cent of the Global population, around 40 per cent of the global GDP, and around 26 per cent of the global trade. The BRICS declaration is also expected to reference the Iran-Israel conflict.

Ravi said four concrete "deliverables" are expected from the BRICS summit, which include global governance and artificial intelligence, a framework declaration on climate finance and a partnership for the elimination of socially determined diseases.

"Countries in the Global South are also looking at alternatives. It is not a de-dollarisation issue. Countries are also doing trade settlements in national currencies. This has been going on for quite some time," he said.

Ravi said BRICS is bringing some understanding of how important it is to have alternative mechanisms for conducting trade and projects in national currencies.

"It is a process and we are confident that it will get traction in days to come," he said.

BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

After the BRICS summit, Modi will also visit Brazil bilaterally to explore ways to deepen cooperation in defence, trade, and energy.

Brazil is interested in India's Akash air defence systems and in getting offshore patrol vessels, Secretary (East) in the External Affairs Ministry, P Kumaran, said. Both sides may also explore possible cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector, he added.

India refused to sign SCO draft

Last week, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign a joint statement at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet because it did not mention the 22 April Pahalgam terror attack.

’“India is not satisfied with the language of the joint document; there was no mention of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, there was mention of the incidents that happened in Pakistan, so India refused to sign the joint declaration, and there is no joint communique either,” news agency ANI reported quoting sources.

The declaration's formulations regarding terrorism will be to our 'satisfaction.'

Member states, including Russia, Pakistan and China, attended the two-day summit in China's Qingdao to discuss issues related to regional and international security. Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also attended the summit.