Bengaluru, 16 July (H.S.): The fifth meeting of the Heads of National Standards Bodies (NSBs) of BRICS member countries commenced in Bengaluru on Thursday. Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi inaugurated the two-day summit and said that BRICS cooperation extends far beyond the economic sphere.

The meeting, being held under India's presidency on the theme Cooperation in Standardisation under BRICS, has brought together the heads of national standards bodies from the 11 BRICS member countries—Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.

Addressing the gathering, Joshi said BRICS represents nearly 49.5 per cent of the world's population, around 40 per cent of global GDP and approximately 26 per cent of global trade. He noted that the grouping has evolved beyond economic cooperation to include collaboration in areas such as counter-terrorism, climate change, food and energy security, finance, trade, WTO reforms, agriculture, labour, digital technologies and innovation.

He said the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), India's National Standards Body, has been playing a pivotal role in promoting quality standards for nearly eight decades. The meeting is expected to establish a formal framework for enhanced cooperation among BRICS national standards bodies through technical collaboration, information sharing and capacity building.

The Union Minister also said BIS would present India's approach to standardisation in Artificial Intelligence (AI) during the summit, with a focus on ensuring AI systems are safe, ethical, transparent, interoperable and trustworthy.

According to Joshi, greater cooperation in standardisation among BRICS nations will facilitate trade and commerce, strengthen global competitiveness and promote harmonisation of international standards.

Announcing India's future engagement with the grouping, the Minister said New Delhi will host the 18th BRICS Summit later this year. He added that India had successfully hosted BRICS Summits in 2012, 2016 and 2021 and remains committed to strengthening cooperation among member nations.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Rakesh Mahadevappa