Ignoring BRICS is ignoring turn of history: Tharoor

BRICS is an alternative forum standing up to the dominant communities shaping the world policies and ignoring the BRICS bloc is ignoring the turn of the history, said Shashi Tharoor, MP and Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs.

Inaugurating the BRICS Civil Forum here on Monday, Tharoor said that BRICS nations -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, with three trillion population represent about 40 per cent of world's population. The bloc contributes 20 per cent to the world GDP and is emerging as a dominant force.

The event, jointly organized by Ministry of External, Forum for Indian Development Cooperation (FIDC), and Research and Information System for Developing Countries is an important track II event to the 8th BRICS Summit being hosted by India later this month in Goa, said a RIS press statement.

Tharoor highlighted the importance of the BRICS civil forum in shaping the global agenda and new world order.

Speaking about the role of Civil society in BRICS, Tharoor said that civil society has an important role of influencing the agenda of the summit by having a cohesive idea among them and conveying them to government. He added BRICS countries have already created the New Development Bank and there is further need to create knowledge hub among them as there is need of globalized connected networked world.

He emphasized that BRICS countries have important role in creating future institutions.

Amar Sinha, Secretary (ER), Ministry of External Affairs, in his remarks reiterated the point that BRICS is a forum of new ideas, shaping the global narratives. Government looks at civil society to show what BRICS can do in future. He stated that India has invited BIMSTEC countries and wants to know what they expect from BRICS countries in regard to new global agenda. If BRICS has to become more than idea, it has to reach to people and there could be no other way than civil society to go and work at the grass root levels.

Shyam Saran, Chairman, RIS, said that BRICS countries are not super powers but they are shaping the world order. These countries will decide what will be the shape of new institutional order and this new order can't be decided until the action of the government are supported by the network amongst the people from different spheres of society. Government can do better if it reaches out to people through civil society, the statement said.

The event was attended by representatives from BRICS countries.

The goal of the two-day meeting is to ensure a constructive dialogue between civil society and decision makers in the main social spheres of healthcare, food security, human security, poverty, etc as well as sustainable development, urbanisation, and financial issues.

--IANS

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