New Delhi, Sep 29 (Bureau) The inaugural meeting of the Development Cooperation Agencies of IBSA partner countries took place on Wednesday under the ongoing Chairship of India, the MEA said. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted that during the meeting discussions were held on furthering South South Cooperation, with outlining of next steps. “Inaugural meeting of Development Cooperation Agencies of #IBSA partner countries took place today under the ongoing Chairship of India. “Discussions held on furthering SouthSouthCooperation with outlining of next steps,” he tweeted.
The IBSA Joint Working Group Meeting on International/Trilateral Development Partnerships was held on Wednesday. This comes a month after IBSA – India, Brazil and South Africa – countries held the first meeting of their National Security Advisors on August 25, and agreed that terrorism, in particular cross-border terrorism undertaken through state sponsorship, continues to be the most potent threat to global peace and security. The inaugural meeting of the IBSA NSAs, hosted by NSA Ajit Doval through video conferencing, was convened as part of the preparatory process for the next IBSA Leaders’ Summit scheduled to take place during India’s Chairship of IBSA. The theme for India’s Chairship under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “Democracy for Demography and Development”. It was the first such meeting of National Security Advisers of IBSA countries, reflecting the importance of closer cooperation among the three countries to meet growing political and security challenges in the world, said an official statement. India, Brazil and South Africa are three large developing countries located in three different continents bound by common values of democracy and pluralism. They are also all maritime nations.