New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to watch the finals of the ongoing FIFA World Cup at the Estadio Maracana in Rio de Janeiro on July 13, official sources said.
If Modi attends the finals, he will be in the company of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma as the leaders converge in the Latin American nation for the 2014 BRICS Summit.
India hasn't yet confirmed whether Modi is reaching early to watch the finals.
The sixth BRICS summit, a grouping of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, was slated to be held at the seaside town of Fortaleza, north-eastern Brazil, in March but reportedly postponed at China's request to sometime in mid-July this year.
The summit was postponed so that Xi Jinping, a self-confessed soccer fan could watch the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in Rio de Janeiro on July 13.
Last week, Modi released commemorative postage stamps on the World Cup and wished the event becomes a "bridge for connecting nations".
All BRICS countries other than India have played in the World Cup. In fact, three BRICS nations are hosting successive World Cups - South Africa in 2010, Brazil this time and Russia in 2018.
