Events

12 Sep 2026

FM represents Belarus at BRICS Summit in India

MINSK, 12 September (BelTA) – Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov is participating in the 18th BRICS Summit in India on behalf of President Aleksandr Lukashenko, the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told BelTA.

A meeting between the Belarusian foreign minister and Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar took place on the sidelines of the summit on day one. The parties reviewed the entire range of bilateral cooperation between Belarus and India.

“Politically, the parties reaffirmed the traditionally friendly nature of Belarusian-Indian relations and gave a positive assessment to their interaction on multilateral tracks, including BRICS and the SCO,” the press service said.

Maxim Ryzhenkov expressed his gratitude to his Indian counterpart for the excellent organization of the summit and the warm hospitality.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in turn, highlighted the extreme importance of the meeting between Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held on 31 August 2026, on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan. He also praised Belarus’ efforts toward settling the Ukrainian crisis and stabilizing the situation in Eastern Europe.

The discussion focused on the upcoming timeline for bilateral top-level and high-level visits in the near term.

Furthermore, the parties discussed the issues of expanding Belarus’ consular presence across Indian regions to facilitate the strengthening of interregional ties.

Turning to trade and economic cooperation, the parties paid particular attention to drafting a bilateral cooperation roadmap for 2026-2030 and ensuring the speedy organization of the 12th session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation in Economy, Trade, Industry, Science, Technology, and Culture.

The session is expected to feature dedicated sectoral consultations involving business representatives and regulators. The implementation of these tasks will lay the groundwork to properly prepare for upcoming top-level contacts between the two nations.

Maxim Ryzhenkov highlighted the positive momentum, noting that bilateral trade has surpassed $1 billion and keeps rising. The talks focused on the ongoing free trade agreement negotiations between the EAEU and India, with both sides agreeing that Belarus would facilitate the speedy conclusion of this process.

Turning to humanitarian cooperation, the Belarusian foreign minister informed his Indian colleague about the Belarusian government’s decision to launch electronic visas for Indian citizens, a move set to boost people-to-people and business contacts. This objective will also be supported by expanding air connectivity between the two countries.