Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be absent from the upcoming BRICS summit in South Africa, scheduled to occur from August 22 to 24, as reported by Sputnik on Thursday.

The decision came about due to the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, which seems to have prompted a change in India's participation.

According to sources in the Indian government cited by the Russian news agency, BRICS members had previously reached an agreement to explore the expansion of memberships ahead of the summit.

Previously, Anil Sooklal, BRICS' ambassador from South Africa, revealed that twenty-two nations have formally applied to join the BRICS organization, and another twenty-two have informally expressed interest in joining the bloc.

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To ensure representation at the important gathering of BRICS nations, either Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar or Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar will step in for Prime Minister Modi.

Earlier on July 19 the South African presidency announced that Putin will not be attending the summit in person, "by mutual agreement." This comes after the US threatened to push South Africa out of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which grants the country duty-free exports of most of its goods to the US, if the Russian President attends the summit.

The International Criminal Court had issued an arrest warrant for Putin, even though it has no jurisdiction over Russia or its government, as Moscow has not signed the Rome statute which would have given the ICC the power to do so.

"By mutual agreement, President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation will not attend the summit, but the Russian Federation will be represented by Foreign Minister Mr [Sergey] Lavrov," Vincent Magwenya, a spokesman for President Cyril Ramaphosa, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Putin is expected to participate through video conference as the Kremlin promised "full-fledged participation" in the high-level meeting.

However, The Economic Freedom Fighters Party in South Africa held a protest in support of the Russian president, urging leaders of China, Brazil, and India to boycott the meeting. 

"We call on the president of the People's Republic of China, India, and Brazil not to come to (the) BRICS summit in solidarity with President Putin," Julius Malema the head of the opposition party said. Adding, "They can take away AGOA and leave us with our sovereignty," addressing over 90,000 supporters wearing the party color red.

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