Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited President Bola Tinubu to attend the BRICS leaders’ summit in New Delhi on Sept. 12–13, the Indian high commissioner to Nigeria said in Abuja.
Abhishek Singh said New Delhi is pressing for deeper Nigerian engagement with BRICS as part of a broader effort to expand economic and political ties with Africa’s largest economy.
“Nigeria as a partner country brings immense strategic importance,” Singh said, noting Nigeria’s size and demographic weight.
India, which holds the BRICS chairmanship this year, plans to use the summit to focus on global challenges, economic cooperation and outreach to partner countries.
Singh said he was hopeful that President Tinubu would lead a high-powered delegation.
Singh also highlighted reciprocal support between the two countries at the United Nations, saying Nigeria had backed India’s bid for a nonpermanent Security Council seat while India had signaled support for Nigeria’s candidacy.
He said such campaigns reflect India’s vision of an inclusive, reformed global order and reiterated New Delhi’s call to expand both permanent and nonpermanent Council membership.
The envoy pointed to deepening bilateral ties: a decades-old Indian presence in Nigeria, an estimated 60,000-strong Indian community, and growing commercial links. Bilateral trade is approaching $10 billion, Singh said, with more than 200 Indian companies operating in Nigeria and cooperation broadening across defence, energy, healthcare, agriculture and technology.
India opened a liaison office in Lagos in 1958, two years before Nigeria’s independence, and the relationship was elevated to a Strategic Partnership in 2007.
Singh described the partnership as now “multidimensional,” with implications for both countries and the wider Global South.
