PM Narendra Modi's engagements for the evening include the BRICS Leaders Retreat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, describing India as a welcome destination for investment, said the country's dreaded red tape has now been converted into a "Red Carpet". Speaking in South Africa's Johannesburg at a Business Forum ahead of the BRICS Summit, PM Modi said his government has been "laying the foundation for a new India".
"Today, India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world... In the last 9 years, people's income has almost doubled... UPI is being used everywhere in India. Most digital transactions happen in India... India has the third largest startup ecosystem in the world," the Prime Minister said in the short address.
Pointing to the new investment opportunities opening up in the country, he said, "In the last years, the number of airports has doubled... Defence and space sectors have been opened for private sector".
"We have converted turned red tape into red carpet," he added, indicating that the big hurdle that discouraged investors at one point, is now a thing of the past.
In Johannesburg to attend the three-day BRICS Summit, PM Modi was warmly welcomed at the airport by South Africa's Deputy President Paul Shipokosa Mashatile.
His engagements for the evening include the BRICS Leaders Retreat, where Russian President Vladimir Putin will join in through a video link. The agenda could include global developments and the BRICS membership expansion issue.
More than 40 nations had expressed interest in joining the five-nation grouping of BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa), which represents around 40 per cent of the world's population am 16 per cent of the world trade, a South African leader had said last month.
The list of aspirants includes Argentina, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Cuba, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon, and Kazakhstan.
This is the first physical meeting of BRICS since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. The last few summits had gone online, during which the state heads have addressed the meet through video link. The theme for the 15th BRICS summit is "BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism".