Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 17 (ANI): With India at the helm of the BRICS presidency, the Working Group meetings on cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) began in Pune on Monday, with focus on strengthening resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability in the digital sector.
Addressing mediapersons, Department of Telecommunications (DoT) Secretary Amit Agrawal said the official-level discussions will lead up to the BRICS ICT Ministerial event and declaration scheduled for August 20 and 21, with representatives from all 11 BRICS member countries expected to participate.
“Today we had this launch event, which will lead up to the ministerial event and declaration on the 20th and 21st. All 11 BRICS nations are expected to attend. Today we are at the official-level kickoff” he said.
Agrawal noted that BRICS represents nearly half of the world’s population and said the discussions will focus on collective plans and initiatives among member countries.
“BRICS represents half of the world’s population. The contribution of the BRICS nation and their collective plans are being deliberated, and we are very happy that under India’s Chairship of the current round of BRICS, the ICT track is being launched today for the final leg of all the deliberations we had over the last one year…”
He told mediapersons that the agenda for the ICT track is centred around the acronym of BRICS for “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability” in context of the digital world.
“The focus of the agenda is on the acronym of BRICS itself –Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. The most important aspects of the digital world are Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation, and Sustainability.”
He mentioned how the countries can take it forward and solve global problems together along with taking the advantage of all the opportunities.
“Today, we have a report presentation on this on AI and also on cybersecurity. We also have a thematic workshop on cybersecurity on the 20th, in which the continuous sharing that has taken place among the BRICS nations will also be discussed, and best practices will be exchanged,” he informed.
India’s BRICS Chairship in 2026 is its fourth, having previously held the position in 2012, 2016 and 2021. The Chairship is guided by the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, reflecting a people-centric and humanity-first approach articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 2025 Rio Summit.
BRICS currently brings together eleven major emerging economies: Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
The grouping serves as a platform for consultation and cooperation on issues of global and regional significance, as well as on global political and economic governance.
The BRICS 2026 website highlights how the grouping’s agenda has expanded significantly from its original focus on economic issues to three core pillars — political and security cooperation, economic and financial cooperation, and cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
It further notes that BRICS cooperation now covers a wide range of issues, including counter-terrorism, climate change, food and energy security, international financial architecture, telecommunications, agriculture, labour and employment, trade, and WTO-related matters. (ANI)