New Delhi [India], September 13 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a bilateral meeting with Nigeria Vice President Kashim Shettima at Bharat Mandapam on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
Shettima arrived in the national capital on Friday to attend the BRICS Summit 2026. Nigeria is participating in the grouping as a BRICS Partner Country.
The meeting comes as India hosted the two-day BRICS Summit under the chairship theme of “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
Earlier, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held discussions with Nigerian Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu on the sidelines of the summit.
Sharing details of the meeting, Jaishankar said on X, “Nice to meet FM Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu of Nigeria at BRICS India 2026. Our conversation focused on economic cooperation and people-to-people ties.”
Nigeria holds BRICS Partner Country status along with Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association of Nigeria (DICAN), Idehai Frederick, said India has the vision, strength and potential to harmonise the global economy through BRICS.
Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the summit, Frederick highlighted the scope for stronger cooperation between India and Nigeria, noting that both countries are among the largest economies and democracies in their respective regions.
“Indian BRICS leadership is wonderful. India is the biggest economy in this region and one of the largest economies and the biggest democracy in this region too. Nigeria, my country, is the largest economy and biggest democracy in Africa. So for India to be the largest in Asia and Nigeria to be the largest in Africa, it means there is a lot we can do together,” he said.
He also highlighted India's economic presence in Nigeria and said Indian companies have developed strong trade and business ties with the African nation.
“India is the largest private employer of labour in my country. While the government is one, India is number two. In terms of trade volume and trade partnership, India has been wonderful. We have been doing constructive and wonderful business with India,” Frederick said.
Meanwhile, addressing the open session of the BRICS Summit on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi said the world now expects “concrete results” from the grouping as it enters its third decade.
“BRICS is poised to enter its third decade. The world now expects concrete results from us, not just ideas and commitments. I am confident that through our collective efforts, we will certainly live up to these expectations,” Modi said.
He also extended his best wishes to China, which will host the next BRICS Summit in 2027, and commended leaders and their teams for making the New Delhi Summit a success.
BRICS leaders on Sunday held a session on “Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability: Shaping the Future for Inclusive Global Growth”.
PM Modi said the trust of Global South nations in BRICS had grown and highlighted initiatives related to disaster management, MSME cooperation and the environment.
The Prime Minister said India had advanced the spirit of friendship, partnership and cooperation through the BRICS platform and stressed that cooperation should involve entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, women, youth and ordinary citizens. (ANI)
PM Modi holds bilateral meeting with Nigeria Vice President Kashim Shettima on BRICS sidelines
