A summit of leaders from the BRICS group of major emerging economies kicks off in Brazil Sunday – but without the top leader of its most powerful member.

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin missed the 17th BRICS Summit in Brazil. Xi sent PM Li Qiang to attend the talks in Rio de Janeiro

The BRICS group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as full members. This is the first leaders' summit to include Indonesia.

The BRICS group gathered leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China at its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indone

BRICS leaders set to discuss key global political issues in Rio de Janeiro, but questions over the bloc’s cohesion arise as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin opt to skip the summit.