In a light-hearted moment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi burst out into laughter during a meeting on Saturday, after the latter made a remark about his popularity.
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who is in New Delhi to attend the 18th BRICS Summit, said he had been flooded with messages meant for the Indian leader.
“See, Prime Minister Modi is so popular. I got so many messages to pass on regards to him,” Ibrahim said as the two leaders were settling down to talk. The remark was met with a hearty laugh by PM Modi.
The moment was captured by the press cameras present at the spot.
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The talks between the two leaders focused on boosting bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including energy, defence, trade and investment.
The meeting came months after PM Modi’s visit to Malaysia in February this year.
“Building on Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Malaysia in February 2026, the leaders reviewed the progress in bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, semiconductors, infrastructure, digital economy, energy, fintech, education, tourism and people-to-people ties,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on social media.
The leaders exchanged views on key regional and global issues of mutual interest, he said.
GLOBAL LEADERS GATHER IN DELHI
Besides Ibrahim, the 2026 BRICS Summit is set to be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and Vietnamese Prime Minister Le Minh Hung.
Many other global leaders are also joining it. UN Secretary General António Guterres, WTO Director General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, New Development Bank (NDB) President Dilma Rousseff and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Chief Zou Jiayi are set to arrive in India to attend the summit.
BRICS, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.
Malaysia, Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam became the multilateral bloc’s partner countries last year.
– Ends
(With inputs from PTI)
Published On:
Sep 12, 2026 14:38 IST
