BRICS Industry ministers attend video meeting to discuss cooperation boost in 5G, AI

The Industry ministers of BRICS countries attended the video meeting on August 24, 2020, to discuss ways to boost cooperation in areas including Artificial Intelligence and 5G.

The meeting of the five members bloc which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa adopted a joint statement on cooperation in the new industries such as Artificial Intelligence, 5G, and the industrial internet.

The Chinese Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Xiao Yaqing mentioned that Beijing has been actively considering the establishment of a BRICS Innovation base in China for strengthening the practical cooperation with BRICS.

Addressed the Fifth #BRICS Industry Ministers' meeting through VC. BRICS countries' need to stand together, cooperate and share experiences for the betterment of their citizens. @DoC_GoI @DIPPGOI pic.twitter.com/MQq6nzKLQD

— Som Parkash (@SomParkashBJP) August 24, 2020

Key Highlights:

• BRICS Industry ministers video meeting comes ahead of the proposed meeting of BRICS foreign ministers in early September 2020, arranged by current BRICS chair Russia.

• During the meeting, China urged BRICS countries to strengthen their cooperation on the digital transformation, especially in AI, digital economy, and 5G.

• The cooperation was also encouraged, to promote the digital transformation of enterprises and their innovation capabilities, and to promote sustainable social and economic development.

• Xiao Yaqing highlighted that the BRICS countries must cooperate to strengthen communication, promote economic recovery, and share their experiences in pandemic control and prevention, resume work and production, guarantee medical supplies and promote economic development.

• The need for enhancing development resilience, strengthening the industrial and supply chain, and the countries' abilities to respond to risks and create a good development environment was also discussed.

Economic ties impacted between India and China:

India and China have currently have been seeing their bilateral relations going through a rough phase after the Galwan Valley clash on June 15, 2020. It also impacted the economic ties between the two countries as India took the path of self-reliance and depending on imports only for the necessary items, under PM Modi’s vision of ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.

Recently, India had also banned some Chinese apps and had also put tighter scrutiny for foreign investments from its neighbouring countries including China. India has also been working effortlessly on making its supply chain more diversified and resilient rather than heavily dependent on one country.

Due to the COVID-19 situation, Russia had postponed SCO and BRICS summit scheduled in July 2020. The summit could have been a meeting point between India and China after the June border standoff.