New Delhi [India], September 11 (ANI): Uruguay Foreign Affairs Minister Mario Lubetkin arrived in New Delhi on Friday to attend the 18th BRICS Summit.

Upon his arrival, the Foreign Affairs Minister was warmly received by senior officials from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). 

In July, Binoy George was appointed as India's next Ambassador to Uruguay. As India and Uruguay continue to deepen ties, Alberto Antonio Guani Amarilla, Ambassador of Uruguay to India, welcomed India's decision to open an embassy in Uruguay next month, describing it as an important step in strengthening bilateral ties. Amarilla said Uruguay hopes External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will attend the inauguration.

'We are now very much expecting the fact that India is going to open an embassy in Uruguay next month. We hope that Minister Jaishankar will be able to be the chief guest there,' he said.

He also called for greater high-level engagement between the two countries, saying Uruguay would be pleased to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi and would also like to see the President of Uruguay visit India.

He said Latin America expects to remain a strong partner as India advances towards becoming a developed economy, adding that there is significant scope to expand cooperation across productive sectors.

Guani Amarilla said Latin America has increasingly emerged as an important partner for India and stressed the need to further deepen economic engagement between the two regions.

He said India and Uruguay should continue identifying areas of complementarity and collaboration to create mutually beneficial opportunities and expand engagement across sectors. 

India is hosting the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on September 12-13 under its 2026 BRICS Chairship. India's Chairship is guided by the theme "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability", with development, sustainability and innovation forming 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 development, finance, technology, trade and people-to-people exchanges.

The grouping currently comprises 11 countries, i.e., Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the UAE.

Collectively, the BRICS members account for around 49.5 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of global GDP and 26 per cent of global trade, according to background information on India's 2026 Chairship.

India's BRICS Chairship comes amid global economic fragmentation, technological disruption, geopolitical uncertainty, climate change and resource pressures.

The expanded grouping provides a platform for cooperation on development, climate action, technology, energy and financial resilience, while also contributing to discussions on reforms in global institutions.

For India, the 2026 Chairship is focused on translating the expanded representation of BRICS into meaningful cooperation and tangible outcomes, while building consensus among its diverse members and strengthening the effectiveness of existing mechanisms. (ANI)