Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 29 May: The International BRICS Mid-Term Academic Conference was organised at the Doon University, here, today. Delegates of 11 countries (including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt and Ethiopia) participated and deliberated at this conference.
The conference was inaugurated by Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan, Prof Surekha Dangwal (Vice Chancellor of Doon University), Prof Harsh V Pant (Vice President of Observer Research Foundation) and Shambhu Hakki (Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India). He is also Sous-Sherpa for BRICS.
Prof Sachin Kumar Sharma (Director General of Research Information System, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India) was also present at the Inaugural Session. The theme of this conference was ‘Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability’. It is the same theme for which India has the BRICS Presidency 2026.
Since Uttarakhand is a Himalayan State, the major focus of BRICS Countries was to understand the issue related to Resilience and Sustainability and to offer the solutions.
Walter Antonio Desidera Neto, who is Researcher and Coordinator of Studies in Economic Relations, Institute for Applied Economic Research, Brazil, and Coordinator for BTTC, Brazil, represented Brazil. He was accompanied by Alexandre dos Santos Cunha (Director of Regional, Urban and Environmental Studies of Brazil). China also participated in this conference through its representatives, viz. Prof Xie Xinfeng of Jimei University and Yukang Huang (Researcher, University of International Business and Economics). Three delegates came from Russia. Russia’s delegation was led by Victoria Panova (Head, BRICS Expert Council; Vice Rector, HSE University; Russian W20 Sherpa). She was accompanied by Egor Muravev (Expert, Institute of Natural Resources Economics and Climate Change, Russia), and Elena Peryshkina (Deputy Head of the BRICS Expert Council- Russia).
The most delegates came from South Africa. Allucia Lulu Shokane (Dean: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zululand) came from South Africa to participate in the conference. Mogomme Alpheus Masoga (Chairperson of the South African BRICS Think Tank, and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning at the Central University of Technology) highlighted the importance of BRICS for South Africa.
Thandiwe Sechele (Senior Administrator: Scholarships, National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, South Africa) and Senkhu Donatianus Maimane (Senior Programme Oficer, National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, South Africa) also debated on the issues of South Africa and other BRICS Countries.
The presence and participation of Omid Babelian (Diplomat and Research Fellow, IPIS, Ministry of Foreign Afairs, Islamic Republic of Iran) was noticed prominently in the conference. Fatma Hamdon (Economic Expert, Information and Decision Support Centre, Egypt) and Mahmoud Mohsen Ahmed Ali (Political Researcher at Prime Minister Technical Office, Egyptian Cabinet) represented Egypt at this conference.
The conference was attended by many Vice Chancellors and Directors of the Universities and Institutions of Uttarakhand. Research Scholars came from each and every corner of Uttarakhand to attend this conference.
The conference had three important sessions viz. Green Industrial Transformation in a Fragmented Global Economy, Protecting Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Scaling Climate Finance for Green Transition.
