Moscow, Apr 1:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to visit India in May to attend a meeting of the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries, local media reported on Tuesday citing a statement from Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko. “Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov plans to take part in the BRICS ministerial meeting on May 14-15 this year, which will determine the set and general outlines of the final documents that the Indian presidency will submit to the BRICS summit,” Russia’s Tass news agency quoted Rudenko as saying.
Rudenko further said, “In connection with the BRICS events, it is also planned to hold a separate working visit by Lavrov to India to meet with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other Indian officials.” India holds the BRICS chair in 2026 guided by the theme of ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’, reflecting a people-centric and humanity-first approach articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 17th BRICS Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 2025.
On March 23, External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar said that India, guided by its humanity first and people-centric approach during its ongoing BRICS chairship, remains focused on deepening engagement with Russia to collectively address common challenges through a balanced and inclusive framework.
While virtually addressing a conference titled ‘India and Russia: Towards a new bilateral agenda’ virtually, EAM Jaishankar reaffirmed New Delhi’s unwavering commitment to its longstanding partnership with Moscow. “The evolving multipolar order necessitates greater cooperation including through BRICS, SCO, G20 and the UN.
India, during its BRICS Chairmanship with a ‘humanity first’ and a ‘people-centric’ approach, looks forward to closely working with Russia to address shared challenges in a balanced and inclusive manner,” EAM Jaishankar said during his address. BRIC was formalised at the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York in 2006.
The inaugural BRIC Summit was convened in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in 2009. It was agreed to expand BRIC into BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in 2010. Accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya in 2011, according to the official statement. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE became full member of BRICS from January 2024 and Indonesia in January 2025. Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam joined BRICS as Partner Countries in 2025.