Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met presidents of Uzbekistan and the UAE on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan City in Russia.

He said he discussed ways to boost bilateral ties with Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev during their meeting.

"Had a wonderful meeting with President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Kazan. Discussed ways to boost bilateral cooperation between India and Uzbekistan including trade and cultural linkage," the Indian leader posted on X.

What is BRICS?

The leaders of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries met for the first time in St. Petersburg, Russia, on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in July 2006.

Shortly afterwards, in September 2006, the group was formalised as BRIC during the 1st BRIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, which met on the sidelines of the General Debate of the UN Assembly in New York City.

After a series of high-level meetings, the 1st BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on 16 June 2009.

BRIC group was renamed as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) after South Africa was accepted as a full member at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2010. Accordingly, South Africa attended the 3rd BRICS Summit in Sanya, China on 14 April 2011.