BRICS NSAs set to meet in South Africa from July 24 to discuss security cooperation mechanism

National Security Advisors (NSAs) of the BRICS member states will meet in South Africa from Monday to Wednesday and explore a security cooperation mechanism for the grouping amid several geopolitical security threats.

NSA Ajit Doval is expected to meet senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi on the sidelines of the event, which will be closely followed amid the Russia-Ukraine war. Yang is a former foreign minister and special representative for boundary talks with India. It is expected that impasse at the Line of Actual Control will be the key item on the agenda for the meet, said people aware of the matter.

Earlier this month external affairs minister S Jaishankar met Wang Yi in Jakarta on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, and they discussed “outstanding issues” along the Line of Actual Control.

Doval is also expected to meet his Russian counterpart Nikolay Patrushev, with whom he held a conversation within days of the failed mutiny in Russia. They are expected to discuss the entire gamut of the strategic partnership, including defence-energy ties, indicated people familiar with the matter.

The NSA could also meet his counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the UAE who are attending the BRICS meeting as special invitees. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE are contenders for joining BRICS. Doval has played a key role in furthering India’s strategic ties with both Saudi and the UAE.

Other matters to be discussed at the 13th BRICS NSA meeting include how BRICS can effectively address traditional and non-traditional security threats in a coordinated manner, enhance solidarity and coordinate development for the fundamental benefit of members and the international community.

At the 12th NSA meeting in 2022, held virtually under China’s BRICS presidency, Doval had called for bolstering cooperation against terrorism without any reservations. He had also emphasised the need for urgent reforms of the multilateral system in order to address global issues with credibility, equity and accountability. He had called for giving importance to cooperation in the areas of information and communication technology security (preventing its use by terrorists), outer space and maritime security.

The BRICS NSA meeting was initiated by the then chair, Russia, in 2009.

The meeting is an important platform for the member states to exchange views and foster cooperation in various fields, including political security, multilateralism, diplomatic communications, cybersecurity, energy and biosecurity.

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