Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday, on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit.
Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates became full members of BRICS in January 2024, while Indonesia joined the grouping in January 2025.
Ethiopia’s membership of BRICS has provided it greater access to the markets of member countries, potentially expanding its export opportunities. The African nation is a major producer of coffee, flowers and other agricultural products, while companies from India and China have expressed interest in investing in its telecommunications technology and infrastructure, which experts say could support efforts to diversify its economy.
Abiy Ahmed arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the summit. Ethiopia is among the 11 member countries of BRICS. He was received at the airport by Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth and welcomed by armed forces personnel.
Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos is also attending the summit and arrived in the national capital on Thursday.
The meeting between PM Modi and Abiy Ahmed comes as India hosts the 18th BRICS Summit under its 2026 Chairship on September 12-13. India’s Chairship is guided by the theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, with development, sustainability and innovation among the key areas of focus.
BRICS has emerged as an important platform for coordination among major emerging economies and for advancing the interests of the Global South in multilateral institutions. Its agenda covers areas including development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges.
The grouping currently comprises 11 members — Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE — along with 10 partner countries: Nigeria, Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
According to background information on India’s 2026 Chairship, BRICS members collectively account for around 49.5 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of global GDP and 26 per cent of global trade.
India’s BRICS Chairship comes amid global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures. New Delhi’s focus is on translating the grouping’s expanded representation into meaningful cooperation and tangible outcomes, while building consensus among its diverse members and strengthening existing mechanisms.
Earlier this month, India and Ethiopia held talks to explore avenues for expanding bilateral defence cooperation, with discussions focusing on military training, joint defence manufacturing and UN peacekeeping operations.
The talks were held in New Delhi between Nebiyu Tedla, Charge d’Affaires at the Ethiopian Embassy, and Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Defence.
The Ministry of Defence said on X, “They discussed avenues to further strengthen India-Ethiopia defence cooperation, including training, defence industry collaboration and UN Peacekeeping, with focus on new and emerging areas.”
Diplomatic ties between India and Ethiopia have witnessed robust high-level exchanges
