Recent Current Affairs related to BRICS

Under the 2026 BRICS Chairship of India, the 12th BRICS Environment Ministers Meeting was held in New Delhi, chaired by Union Minister Bhupender Yadav.

Additionally, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) under the Ministry of Communications organized the BRICS Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Track in Pune under the theme “Innovate, Cooperate and Transform (ICT) for a Resilient Future”.

The Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) has appointed Dr Eluri Sreedhar as an Honorary Advisor and Yogesh Sharma as a National Advisor.

The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has organised the 8th meeting of the BRICS Working Group on Ocean Polar Science and Technology (OPST) in Goa, hosted by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).

India also hosted the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Meeting and the 3rd BRICS Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, chaired by Union Minister Pralhad Joshi of the Ministry of Education (MoE). The session concluded with the adoption of the 13th BRICS Education Ministers’ Declaration, which outlines 5 priority areas under the BRICS Education Track.

India has signed an MoU with Brazil to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The agreement was signed by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and the counterpart Frederico de Filho on the sidelines of the BRICS ICT Track Meeting held in Pune, Maharashtra.

The BRICS Youth Council Meeting and BRICS Youth Summit 2026 were held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

The events were organised by the Department of Youth Affairs under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

The Ministry of Tourism also hosted the second BRICS 2026 Tourism Working Group (TWG) meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan, chaired by Bhuvnesh Kumar, the Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism.

India has hosted the 10th BRICS Industry Ministers Meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The meeting focused on the BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR) initiatives and concluded with the adoption of a Joint Declaration.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), through the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC), hosted the 'BRICS WAVES Bazaar 2026' in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The event featured the India-Russia co-production 'KOROVA', the launch of the BRICS Independent Producers Alliance (BIPA), and the signing of several agreements.

India is set to host the inaugural Global South Film Festival in 2027 to promote international cooperation in the entertainment sector. Brazil, Russia, and Vietnam will serve as the key partner countries for the festival.

The announcement was made on the sidelines of the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) Bazaar in Mumbai.

India hosted the Meeting of Heads of National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of BRICS countries in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, under the theme “Quality Statistics as a Driver of Change”.

India also hosted the 2nd BRICS Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) Meeting and the 2nd Meeting of the BRICS Expert Network on Asset Recovery in Hyderabad. Under India’s BRICS Presidency 2026, the 3rd BRICS Culture Working Group (CWG) meetings were conducted in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Additionally, the BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) celebrated its 14th foundation day in New Delhi.

The 16th BRICS Trade Ministers’ Meeting was held in Jaipur, Rajasthan, under India’s BRICS Chairship for 2026. Chaired by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, the meeting was held under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.

Additionally, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) hosted the BRICS Heads of Competition Authorities meeting in Udaipur, Rajasthan. The event featured a collaborative study on the renewable energy sector, presentations on recent enforcement initiatives, and strategic planning for the 2027 conference in Brazil.

The 2nd meeting of the BRICS Science Academies Forum 2026 was held at the IIT Hyderabad under the theme "Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development and Strengthening Global South Cooperation".

Additionally, India hosted the BRICS Ministers of Interior Meeting in New Delhi.

India hosted the 3rd BRICS Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in New Delhi under its BRICS Chairship. The meeting was chaired by Union Minister of State Nityanand Rai.

The meeting concluded with the adoption of the 'BRICS Joint Statement on DRR'. The statement reaffirms the commitment of BRICS nations to accelerate the 'BRICS DRR Work Plan (2025-2028)'.

The 16th BRICS Health Ministers' Meeting was held in Chandigarh under the BRICS Chairship of India for 2026. The meeting was held under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability' to strengthen cooperation in public health priorities and global health architecture.

Additionally, under the BRICS Presidency of India for 2026, the Ministry of Education convened the International Governing Board (IGB) meeting of the BRICS Network University (BRICS NU) in a virtual format.

India hosted the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Heads of Anti-Drug Agencies Meeting in Guwahati, Assam.

During the meeting, member nations adopted the 'Guwahati Declaration', and India proposed the establishment of a dedicated BRICS Virtual Working Group (VWG) to address evolving drug trafficking trends and enhance cross-border training initiatives.

India also organized the 'GO-BRICS India-Russia Energy-o-thon 2026' in Bengaluru, which is the world's first hackathon involving BRICS nations. Additionally, the BRICS Academic Thematic Conference, themed 'Strengthening BRICS Connectivity: Fostering Cooperation', was jointly organized by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and the BRICS Expert Council Russia in Moscow, Russia.

India hosted the BRICS Women Ministerial Meeting (WMM) in Kochi, Kerala under its BRICS Chairship 2026. During the meeting, member nations reached a consensus on two initiatives proposed by India: the 'BRICS Digital Repository of Best Practices' and 'BRICS Digital Capacity Building'.

India also hosted the 3rd BRICS Transport Ministers' Meeting (TMM) in Nagpur, Maharashtra, chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari. The meeting concluded with the unanimous adoption of the Ministerial Declaration.

The 16th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) National Security Advisers' (NSA) meeting was held in New Delhi.

The meeting was chaired by the National Security Advisor (NSA) of India, Ajit Doval. The summit was conducted under the theme 'Non-Traditional Security Challenges Confronting the World Today'.

The BRICS Heads of Space Agencies (HOSA) meeting was held in Bengaluru. It was hosted by the ISRO and the Department of Space (DoS) with support from the Ministry of External Affairs, featuring participation from all BRICS member nations.

The 11th BRICS Energy Ministers’ Meeting was held in Gurugram, Haryana, under the BRICS Chairship of India for 2026. The meeting was conducted under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” with the Energy Track focusing on the theme “Energy for All.”

The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has hosted the First BRICS MSME Forum and the Third SME Working Group Meeting in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. The event was held under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability'.

The Third SME Working Group Meeting deliberated on the theme 'Building MSME Ecosystem - Sustainable Roots to Global Routes'.

Uzbekistan has become the 10th member and shareholder of the New Development Bank (NDB) after ratifying the NDB Articles of Agreement (AoA). This marks the first entry of a Central Asian nation into the NDB.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has concluded the 13th BRICS Urbanisation Forum at Sushma Swaraj Bhavan in New Delhi. Held under the BRICS Chairship of India 2026, the forum was themed "Cities for People: BRICS Cooperation for Inclusive and Resilient Urban Futures".

The event resulted in the adoption of a 'Ministerial Declaration' and the proposal for a 'BRICS Urban Research and Knowledge Network' to strengthen urban cooperation among member nations. Two publications, "India's Urban Transformation: Stories of Change" and "Cities for People: Urban Stories from BRICS Nations", were also showcased.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has chaired the 16th BRICS Agriculture Ministers' Meeting in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Held under India’s 2026 BRICS Chairship, this was the first-ever BRICS agricultural summit to include both Member and Partner Countries.

The BRICS Agriculture Working Group identified 4 priorities: Food Security and Nutrition (focusing on smallholder farmers, women, and youth), Agricultural Trade, Regenerative Farming (promoting climate-resilient practices), and Investment and Innovation.

The summit concluded with the adoption of the ‘Indore Declaration’, which emphasises a farmer-centric global food system and rejects unilateral trade restrictions that threaten food security.

To implement the declaration, the member nations established 5 institutional networks: the BRICS Network of Centres of Excellence on Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture (coordinated by the ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research (IIFSR), Modipuram), Network on Digital Agriculture (coordinated by the IIT Delhi), BRICS Agro-Inputs, Genetic Resources, and Information Network (BRICS AGRIN Framework), Knowledge-to-Action Hub (by strengthening the BRICS Agricultural Research Platform (BARP)), and the Global Forum on Farmers' Rights in Seed Systems.