NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under pressure from the West to abandon ties with Russia, will attend a virtual summit to be hosted by China of the BRICS group, which has Russia as a key member, The Hindu said on Sunday.

“Weeks after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Delhi, India has agreed to attend a virtual summit of leaders of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa grouping, likely to be held at the end of June,” The Hindu said citing unnamed sources in New Delhi.

The dates of the meeting, that will see Mr Modi on the same platform as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and leaders of Brazil and South Africa for the first time since the Ukraine war began, are still being finalised, the sources said, although June 23-24 have been suggested as dates for the summit.

India hosted last year’s BRICS summit, which was also held virtually, and attended by the five leaders. This is the first summit hosted by China since the tensions broke out at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) due to the PLA’s alleged transgressions in April 2020, The Hindu said.

Ahead of this year’s summit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Delhi last month, which was seen as possibly heralding a gradual normalisation of ties. His visit was notably the first since the LAC stand-off began.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2022