It's a Bread and Salt welcome for PM Modi in Russia. When important guests arrive, they are presented with a loaf of bread placed on a tray as a sign of hospitality. The "Bread and Salt' is a form of specially baked round bread with a salt shaker placed on top of the bread. Usually the "Bread and Salt' on a round tray is covered with an embroidered towel and is presented by a young woman dressed in a national costume.


The PM is in Ufa, Russia for a three-day visit to attend the BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summits, on the sidelines of which he is likely to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping. At the SCO Summit, India is expected to be accorded full membership of the six-nation grouping of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.