Putin hosts Global South leaders at Brics summit intended to counter West

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of the global leaders attending the summit in Kazan (Photo host brics-russia2024.ru via AP)

China’s Xi Jinping, India’s Narendra Modi and other global leaders have arrived in the Russian city of Kazan for a summit of the Brics bloc of developing economies which the Kremlin hopes to turn into a rallying point for defying the Western liberal order.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, the three-day meeting also offers a powerful way to demonstrate the failure of US-led efforts to isolate Russia over its action in Ukraine.