The Presidents of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan have been met at the Kazan airport

President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has arrived in Kazan to attend the BRICS summit. At the airport, he was greeted by Rustam Minnikhanov, the Rais (Head) of the republic of Tatarstan and Mayor Ilsur Metshin. They offered him a traditional Tatar dish, chak-chak, along with bread and salt.

Azerbaijan has expressed its intention to join the BRICS. This was announced at a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in July. Azerbaijan and China issued a joint statement on establishing a strategic partnership, in which Azerbaijan expressed its desire to become a member of BRICS.

President of Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, also arrived in Kazan and was met by Alexey Pesoshin, Tatarstan Prime Minister, and Ilsur Metshin. The President will participate in outreach program where the topic of «BRICS and the Global South - Building a Better World Together» will be discussed.

Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chin, was welcomed in Kazan by Alexey Pesoshin and Denis Kalinkin, Vice Mayor of Kazan. The Prime Minister's participation in the summit is expected to promote and deepen cooperation among the BRICS countries.

Earlier, the UN and SCO Secretary Generals, the President of the People's Republic of China, the Prime Minister of India, the Presidents of the Republic of Congo, Laos, Mauritania, Venezuela, Iran, Palestine, Egypt, UAE, Republika Srpska, South Africa, and the Vice President of Venezuela, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, and others, arrived in the capital of Tatarstan.

Representatives from about 36 countries and 22 heads of states, as well as six international organizations will be attending the event.