Moscow, March 31 – 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 participate in the BRICS ministerial meeting on May 14-15 this year, which will determine the scope and general outline 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 for Lavrov to make a separate working visit to India to meet with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and other Indian officials."
India holds the BRICS chairmanship 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 chairmanship, 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', 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 formalized 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 members 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.