Brazil BRICS summit to be PM Narendra Modi's first multilateral meeting

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the two-day summit of five-nation BRICS forum in Brazil next week when it is likely to give a concrete shape to establishment of a Development Bank and pitch for reforms of the UN Security Council.

Modi's first participation in a multilateral meeting after taking over as Prime Minister will also give him an opportunity to meet with world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin apart from leaders of South America.

Summit host and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has invited leaders of South American nations including those from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuala and Surinam for the summit following on the footsteps of South Africa which invited African nations to the last year's Summit in Durban.

Briefing reporters on the upcoming 6th Summit of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Sujata Mehta, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the External Affairs Ministry said all matters related to the establishment of the bank were still under negotiation and a decision may be taken in Fortaleza, the north eastern coastal city of Brazil, on July 15. A Fortaleza declaration containing the summit outcomes is on the cards.

On July 16, the BRICS leaders will meet in capital Brasilia where the South American heads of government and state will join them for discussions.

The Durban summit had taken a decision to establish the BRICS bank for mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the five countries and other emerging economies and developing nations. A Contingency Reserve Fund of USD 100 billion was decided in that summit.

One of the objectives of the BRICS bank, an establishment outside the framework of Brettonwoods institutions, would be to provide export credit guarantee for member nations and some developing countries, Mehta said in reply to questions.