Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will spend a pretty busy time during her upcoming visit to Johannesburg, South Africa with a number of meetings planned on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

PM Hasina will leave Dhaka for Johannesburg on August 22 to attend the BRICS Summit and hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines while there.

"We will arrange a number of meetings on the sidelines. These are yet to get final shape as such meetings are finalised at the last minute. It is in the process," Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told reporters at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

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Indian Prime Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are among the global leaders who are traveling to the African country this week.

They will be visiting South Africa from August 22 to 24 to attend the 15th BRICS Summit at the invitation of Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa.

“BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogues” will also be held there.
India and China are two core members of the BRICS nations, which also include Brazil, Russia and South Africa.

The grouping was predicated on linking the interests of the world’s leading emerging economies but has sought to expand into other civil and governmental fields.

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Modi will hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg, said the Indian Ministry of External Affairs without mentioning names.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said in a statement that during his Aug. 21-24 visit to South Africa, Xi will co-chair the China-Africa Leaders’ Dialogue with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa.

PM Hasina is expected to join the “Bangladesh Trade and Investment Summit” which will be jointly organised by the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on August 23.
She will also attend “regional envoys conference” to be participated by Bangladesh envoys.

On August 24, the prime minister will attend the “BRICS-Africa Outreach and the BRICS Plus Dialogues.”

Representatives from around 70 countries are expected to join the event. She will also meet Bangladeshi expatriates now living in South Africa.

The president of the New Development Bank is also expected to meet Hasina there.

Foreign Minister Momen and Prime Minister's Private Industries and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman, among others, will accompany PM Hasina at the “BRICS-Africa Outreach and BRICS Plus Dialogues.”

The Prime Minister is scheduled to leave Johannesburg for Dhaka on August 26. Responding to a question, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said the government is planning to hold a number of meetings both in South Africa and India.

"As we will have limited time in South Africa, we will try to hold those meetings (with heads of governments and states) that are possible while the rest can take place in New Delhi," he said.

Around 22 countries have shown interest to be members of BRICS and the five original members are trying to build consensus among them to take new members, the foreign minister said.
"We don't know when the new members will join," he said.

“We have formally expressed our interest to join BRICS this year,” Momen said, adding that Bangladesh has already become a member of the New Development Bank.

Responding to a question regarding geopolitical risks of joining BRICS, the foreign minister said they (developed countries) should be happy that there are emerging countries which have resources and can help other developing countries.