India Hosted 12th BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting in Hyderabad, Telangana

India Hosted 12th BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Meeting in Hyderabad, Telangana

• Hosted: India under BRICS Chairship 2026, themed "Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability" in Hyderabad.
• Outcome: Adoption of BRICS Labour and Employment Ministers' Declaration + Launch of BRICS CONNECT - initiative proposed by India to strengthen technical cooperation, knowledge exchange, capacity building among BRICS nations.
• Associated BRICS Events under India's Chairship 2026:
  • BRICS CCI Meeting: Dr. Jitendra Singh met BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry delegation in Delhi - discussed industry-led global engagement, startups, emerging tech, research collaboration across BRICS and BRICS Plus ecosystem.
  • BRICS Women Ministerial Meeting: 8-9 July 2026 in Kochi, Kerala - theme Women-led development. Outcome: Joint Statement of 4th BRICS WMM + 2 India-proposed initiatives - BRICS Digital Repository of Best Practices and BRICS Digital Capacity Building.
  • BRICS Heads of Anti-Drug Agencies Meeting: 6-7 July 2026 in Guwahati, Assam, organised by Narcotics Control Bureau [NCB] under MHA. Focus: Synthetic drugs & precursor chemicals diversion, intelligence sharing, capacity building. Outcome: Guwahati Declaration + India proposed dedicated BRICS Virtual Working Group [VWG] to address drug trafficking + cross-border training.
  • 3rd BRICS Transport Ministers' Meeting: 11-12 July 2026 in Nagpur, Maharashtra, chaired by Nitin Gadkari, MoRTH. Outcome: Ministerial Declaration - circularity in infrastructure, Sustainable Aviation Fuel [SAF], transport decarbonisation, urban mobility hub, logistics supply chain cooperation, BRICS Railway Research Network.
  • Other: GO-BRICS India-Russia Energy-o-thon 2026 - world's 1st BRICS nations hackathon in Bengaluru, Karnataka. BRICS Academic Thematic Conference on "Strengthening BRICS Connectivity" jointly by ORF and BRICS Expert Council Russia in Moscow, Russia.
• About BRICS: Original - Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. Now expanded - BRICS Plus includes Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, UAE, Indonesia etc.
• UPSC Relevance: GS2 - IR, BRICS, Multilateralism, India's Chairship.
• Mains Angle: BRICS as platform for Global South, India's leadership.