Russian President Vladimir Putin held separate meetings with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS (group of major emerging economies) summit in New Delhi, India. Putin and Ramaphosa discussed expanding political, parliamentary, educational and humanitarian ties, with Russia raising its scholarship quota for South African students to 100 for the 2026-27 academic year. They also addressed growing bilateral trade, shared positions on major international and regional issues, and South Africa’s support for Russian initiatives at the United Nations. Putin said Russia is preparing the third Russia-Africa summit in Moscow on Oct. 28-29, where digital technologies, artificial intelligence, nuclear energy, payment systems and food security will be priorities. Ramaphosa thanked Putin for supporting South Africa’s G20 (Group of 20 major economies) presidency, backed further trade expansion and said Pretoria would send a strong delegation. In his meeting with el-Sisi, Putin said Russia-Egypt trade and major joint projects were advancing despite challenges, invited the Egyptian president to Moscow for the October summit and emphasized the importance of Egypt’s views on regional and global issues. El-Sisi said bilateral trade had exceeded $10 billion and highlighted the El Dabaa nuclear power plant, which is being built by Russia’s Rosatom (Russian nuclear energy company). He also said Egypt depends heavily on grain imports from Russia and Ukraine, making stable supplies important, and expressed Cairo’s interest in working with Moscow and others to promote regional stability. Putin arrived in India earlier Friday, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and was expected to hold further sideline meetings with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.