OREANDA-NEWS. India, the Chair of BRICS for 2016, will host the BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue on July 26 in Patna, Bihar.

The discussions shall take forward the Policy Planning talks initiated under the Chairmanship of Russia in 2015 in line with this year’s theme of Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions, a press release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

This will be the first time that the MEA will host an official foreign policy related engagement in Patna. BRICS brings together Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Afica.

“The BRICS Policy Planning Dialogue will provide an opportunity for exchanges on strategic assessments of international situation and the regional situation of each country and trends therein, going beyond immediate issues of quotidian diplomacy,” the release said.

The role of BRICS in international governance, ongoing cooperation at BRICS Forum and identifying areas of convergence among BRICS would be a subject for reflection. This dialogue will also seek to enhance sharing of best practices in foreign policy planning and assessment between the BRICS countries.

The respective Foreign Office delegations shall be led by Mr. Michel Arslanian Neto (Deputy Head of Policy Planning of Brazil), Mr. Oleg Stepanov (Head of Policy Planning of Russia), Mr. Santosh Jha (Joint Secretary Policy Planning of India), Mr. Wang Wenbin (Acting DG Policy Planning of China) and Mr. David Malcolmson (Chief Director Regional Organisations of South Africa).