Syed Ali Mujtaba*
CHENNAI: “Strengthening Multilateralism for Global Development and Security” was the theme of the symposium organized by the Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute in collaboration with the BRICS Generation, a nonprofit academic organization in the city.
BRICS is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. With five more countries joining this global body it is now called BRICS+.
Speaking at the symposium Chief Guest P. Thangappan, Secretary General of the Indo-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industries said that India, Russia, and China, the three-member countries, will steer the wheels of BRICS+, the fast-emerging global body.
R Muthu Kumar, President of BRICS Generation and editor and publisher of Makkal Kural – Trinity Mirror, a Tamil and English evening newspaper, said this global body will provide tremendous job opportunities for the current generation of students, whom he called the BRICS Generation.
Col R Hariharan, a retired Military Intelligence officer did a SWOT analysis of this multilateral body and said BRICS+ will be a game changer in the emerging World Order.
A.S. Panneerselvan a journalist, who retired as the citizen’s editor of The HINDU and is currently adjunct faculty at the Asian College of Journalism hit a cautious note saying “the national interest of the BRICS nations and the global interest of being the voice of the South, is contradictory, therefore one has to have guarded optimism about the BRICS+ future.”
Dr Syed Ali Mujtaba, who currently, teaches at the Department of Political Science at the Dr. MGR University, talked about the Importance of BRICS+ as a Multilateral Organization and India’s engagement with this global body.
Commodore RS Vasan, Indian Navy and Coast Guard (Retd), Director of Chennai Center of Chinese Studies, joined the symposium online from Bangalore. He said, that as BRICS+ is shaping into a cohesive geopolitical bloc it is vocal in its representation as the voice of the Global South.
Professor Gulshan Sachdeva, who teaches at the Centre for European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, joined the symposium online and talked about the outcome of the recently concluded 16th BRICS summit at Kazan, Russia.
G.P. Sudha, the Head of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration said the purpose of the symposium was to enrich the knowledge of the student on BRICS+ and thanked the guest -speakers for making the symposium a grand success.
*Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
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