Nepal’s BRICS exclusion exposes growing diplomatic vacuum

Kathmandu, Sept 13: The 18th BRICS Summit, a grouping of the world’s major emerging economies—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—began in New Delhi on Saturday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared together on the same platform in India for the first time in 10 years.

In addition to the 11 member states, leaders from 10 partner countries are participating in the summit. Several other countries have also been invited to participate in the outreach programme. Nepal, however, has not been invited this time.