Terrorism to feature on BRICS policy planning talk today

PATNA: The issue of terrorism will feature on discussions at the BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue which will be hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Patna on Tuesday.

Patna will be hosting an official foreign policy related event for the first time and the Dialogue is one among 95 meetings which the MEA has planned to host across several states in India's capacity as the chair of BRICS in 2016.

The MEA aims to "expand footprints across India and to disseminate BRICS awareness among people."

India assumed BRICS chairmanship this February . Interacting with reporters at Patna's Regional Passport Office on Monday, Santosh Jha, joint secretary (Policy, Planning and Research), MEA, said delegations from five countries will participate in the discussions and share the challenges they face and the opportunities available for them.

The main aim was to strengthen the BRICS and the regional situation of each country associated with BRICS will be discussed, he said. Asked what prompted the MEA to select Patna as a venue for the discussions, Jha, who hails from Bihar, said the city has a historic importance and symbolic value.

Leaders from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal will be special invitees to the 8th BRICS Summit in Goa to be held on 15-16 October 2016. "As part of the external regional outreach, India has invited Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation ( BIMSTEC) leaders as special invitees to the 8th BRICS Summit and the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit," a press release said.

The Dialogue will also seek to enhance sharing best practices in foreign policy planning and assessments between BRICS countries.

During India's BRICS chairmanship, the main objectives are institution building, implementation of decisions taken in previous summits, integrating synergies among existing cooperation mechanism, innovations i.e. new cooperation mechanism and continuity i.e. continuing mutually agreed existing BRICS cooperation mechanism.