The first summit in South Asia, it will host the largest delegation of 43 heads of State and government as well as the heads of international organisations.

'The group commands 85 per cent of the global GDP, and if you are able to convey your point of view effectively to this group then you have reached more or less all the important players that matter.'

United States President Joe Biden is all set to visit India and is 'very excited' about the important initiatives he will be championing at the G20 Summit in New Delhi, according to senior White House officials.

'Many countries believe that if they join BRICS, they will be seen as emerging countries and their stature will be enhanced.' 'G-20 still has common action plans while BRICS does not do that much.'

'There's no pro-China tilt in BRICS.' 'All these countries want to be close to China, but they are all good friends of India also.'

Without mentioning the boundary dispute, the spokesperson said that China-India relations have been stable on the whole and "our two sides have maintained dialogue and communication at various levels".

Today, with China centrally seated and located, the Global South has an intriguing road ahead. Odds of it becoming a Chinese bloc in the emerging new bipolar world are higher than we'd wish them to be, observes Shekhar Gupta.

Macron's office said the President will travel to Delhi to participate in the G20 Summit on September 9 and 10 following which he will leave for Bangladesh for a bilateral visit.

'This kind of a last minute order creates immense problems for airlines.'

President Xi is also skipping the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and East Asia summits in Jakarta this week.

India is awaiting a written confirmation from China on President Xi's participation in the G20 Leaders Summit, Muktesh Pardeshi, Special Secretary for G20, said on Friday.

United States President Joe Biden and other world leaders gathering for the G20 summit in New Delhi will get a taste of lip-smacking Indian street food, including flavourful delicacies from Chandni Chowk, and innovative millet dishes.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that India's economic growth is a 'natural by-product' of his nine-year-old government's political stability, as he expressed optimism that it will be a developed nation by 2047 with 'corruption, casteism and communalism' having no place in our national life.

There is no official word either from China or from India on who will represent Beijing at the upcoming G20 summit.

Images from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday.

The exhibition of artefacts -- in physical and digital formats -- will be done on the same floor level where the leaders' meetings will take place, and they will walk through this 'cultural corridor' while moving into and out of the summit room, official sources said.

The IAF has already set up a dedicated operations direction centre for coordinating various aspects of the arrangements with security agencies concerned, they said.

There have been sharp differences between the Russia-China combine and the Western countries over the text to describe the Ukraine crisis.

India's role as a leader of the global south may require it to give up its ambition to serve as a bridge between the warring halves of the international community, points out Mihir S Sharma.

India has not yet received any confirmation on Chinese President Xi Jinping's in-person participation at the upcoming G20 summit, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday amid reports that he is likely skip the conclave.

Norwegian Haaland beat his team mate Kevin De Bruyne and 2022 World Cup champion Lionel Messi after helping City win three major trophies, the Champions League, English Premier League and FA Cup.

Lewis Hamilton has signed a new contract with Mercedes and will continue to partner compatriot George Russell in 2024 and 2025, the team said on Thursday.

McGahey said she is doing everything possible in her capacity to realise her dream of playing international cricket.

This could become tricky territory for India, given its basically adversarial relationship with China, its moves to block imports and investment from that country, and to deny market access for Chinese technologies, observes T N Ninan.

"We will examine the latest developments and make a determination about our future engagement with BRICS," Baloch said.

Prime Minister Modi and President Xi held the conversation on Wednesday on the sidelines of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit in Johannesburg.

The government is "extremely disappointed" with the latest report of the Moody's rating agency on India's economic outlook. The report, a senior government official said, was highly contradictory and called the rating agency's credibility into question. Referring to the Moody's statement that "India's fiscal strength remains a key weakness in the sovereign credit profile...", the official remarked: "How can my strength be my weakness? Moreover, they are unwilling to have a like-to-like comparison with India."

Raking up the border issue, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said every individual in Ladakh knows that China has "taken away our land" and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion that not an inch of land was taken away was "absolutely false".

Prime Minister Narendra D Modi with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, China's President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

In his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Xi Jinping stressed that improving China-India relations serves common interests and is conducive to peace and stability of the region and the world.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping India's concerns on the "unresolved" issues along Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh during a conversation on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Thursday.

Modi held a "productive meeting" with his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali on a day when BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders officially endorsed Ethiopia's entry into the bloc.

Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been invited to join the grouping.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping were on Thursday seen having brief exchanges ahead of a media briefing by the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) leaders in Johannesburg.

Showing respect to the Indian flag, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday immediately picked up the tricolour placed on stage at a BRICS meeting here to mark the standing place of every leader so as not to step on it.

Consensus remained elusive on a common BRICS currency as business leaders from the five-bloc nations debated the pivotal issue at a business forum on the periphery of a summit of the five-member bloc being hosted here by South Africa. In their two addresses at the Summit so far, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have made no or scant references to the issue either. "The BRICS Business Forum discussed the international payments system in detail. "Participants also debated the question of whether a BRICS currency is possible or desirable, with strong views expressed both for and against and little consensus reached," Sim Tshabalala, chief executive of Standard Bank Group, told several hundred captains of industry from the partner countries and over 40 other nations across the globe at the Summit.

'India has the potential to do a lot more to take advantage of the time today where we stand to gain, geopolitically and in terms of market attractiveness.'

'The future of BRICS is under stress as Chinese attempts to expand the platform are being resisted by India and Brazil.' 'Beijing is focused on a quick expansion with the aim of giving the platform a distinctly anti-Western orientation, which New Delhi and Brasilia seem to have no interest in,' notes Harsh V Pant.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will become the growth engine for the world in the coming years, and the ease of doing business has improved with "mission-mode" reforms being undertaken by his government. Speaking at the BRICS Business Forum Leaders' Dialogue in Johannesburg, Modi also said India soon will become a $5 trillion economy.

United States President Joe Biden will travel to India from September 7 to 10 to attend the G-20 Leaders' Summit during which he will discuss with other leaders a range of global challenges, including the Ukraine conflict, the White House announced on Tuesday.