Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held bilateral meetings with the President of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, and the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar bin Ibrahim, on the sidelines of the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
During his meeting with the Cuban President, Prime Minister Modi recalled their earlier interaction at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg in 2023, where Cuba participated as a special invitee. The leaders reviewed bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors including economic partnership, fintech, capacity building, science and technology, disaster management and healthcare.
President Diaz-Canel expressed keen interest in India’s Digital Public Infrastructure and Unified Payments Interface (UPI), recognising India’s expertise in the digital domain. Prime Minister Modi appreciated Cuba’s recognition of Ayurveda and conveyed India’s support for integrating traditional Indian medicine into Cuba’s public health system. He further proposed Cuba’s recognition of the Indian pharmacopoeia, which would facilitate access to affordable generic medicines from India.
The leaders also agreed to enhance cooperation on issues concerning the Global South, including health, pandemics and climate change. They appreciated the collaboration between India and Cuba in multilateral fora.
In a separate meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar bin Ibrahim, the two leaders took stock of the progress in bilateral relations since Prime Minister Ibrahim’s State Visit to India in August 2024. They discussed cooperation in areas such as trade and investment, defence, education, healthcare, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
Prime Minister Modi thanked the Malaysian Prime Minister for his strong condemnation of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam. Both leaders exchanged views on regional security and cooperation in the multilateral arena.
Prime Minister Modi also congratulated Malaysia for its successful leadership of ASEAN and welcomed Malaysia’s continued support for strengthening the ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. He expressed hope for the early and successful completion of the review of the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.
The BRICS Summit, hosted by Brazil, has brought together leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, along with new members Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Indonesia.
Brazil assumed the BRICS Chairship on January 1, 2025, with the theme ‘Strengthening Global South Cooperation for More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance’.
India will host the 18th BRICS Summit in 2026.
