As the BRICS Summit begins in Kazan on Tuesday, all eyes are on a possible meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping there. This is the first summit that will be taking place after the first-ever expansion of BRICS in January this year.

While the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has not confirmed the meeting yet, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri on Monday said the Prime Minister is expected to have “a few bilaterals during his visit, which are presently being worked out”. Modi and Xi had previously met briefly in South Africa in August 2023, on the sidelines of the last BRICS Summit.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian on Monday said, “We will keep you posted if anything comes up.” China had last week announced Xi’s attendance at the BRICS Summit, saying “he will work with other parties to open a new era for the Global South to seek strength through solidarity”.

Besides Russian President Vladimir Putin, PM Modi and President Xi, participating heads of state include Turkey President Recep Erdogan and Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, among others.