BRICS to play important role in combating pandemic, economic recovery, says Indian expert
Source: Xinhua| 2021-09-10 10:32:20|Editor: huaxia
BRICS, accounting for over 42 percent of the global population and over 23 percent of global GDP, will play an important role in combating the pandemic and global economic recovery, B.R. Deepak, professor and sinologist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, has told Xinhua.
The BRICS strategy for economic partnership until 2025, approved at the end of the 12th BRICS Summit, provided a clear road map for the economic and trade cooperation for BRICS countries in the next five years in trade, investment, finance, digital economy and sustainable development, Deepak said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
Speaking highly of China's effort to combat COVID-19 pandemic, Deepak said not only other BRICS members but countries far beyond can learn from China's experience.
Citing BRICS vaccine R&D (research and development) center as a good initiative where expertise from India, China and Russia could be brought to full play, Deepak said the meeting of health ministers of BRICS countries is the forum where such cooperation can be deliberated and implemented so capacities can be built in health sectors.
While the group faces internal and external challenges, it has achieved remarkable growth and is increasingly seen as "a major economic grouping contributing tremendously to global economic growth and governance," said the expert.
Deepak noted that with the establishment of mechanisms like BRICS University League and BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), BRICS has emerged as a fine example of multilateralism.
"The above mentioned achievements have resulted from multilateral cooperation, and has contributed to strengthening the institutions of global governance," the sinologist said.
The BRICS University League and the NDB has played an important role in building social and industrial infrastructure in developing countries, he added.
According to him, to further strengthen multilateralism among BRICS countries, cooperation in building health infrastructure amid COVID-19 is an opportunity to build capacity in this sector while the skill development geared towards meeting the challenge of new technologies is another area where interests must converge.
Other areas of cooperation include counter-terrorism, trade and investment, combating global warming and developing concerned technologies, he said.
Besides, people-to-people exchange amongst the BRICS is vast and could be instrumental in shaping the social infrastructure amongst the BRICS, Deepak said.
At the moment, there are various exchanges such as cultural festivals, media and film exchanges, and BRICS scholarships.
"However, there is a huge scope to strengthen and broaden the scope of these exchanges," he said, citing the BRICS University League as an excellent example.
"There is a need to institutionalize these mechanisms and establish even more at various levels," he said.
