The Indian National Science Academy (INSA), as part of India's BRICS Presidency 2026, convened the first meeting of the BRICS Science Academies Forum 2026. Held virtually under the theme “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development and Strengthening Global South Cooperation,” the forum brought together science academies from ten nations, Brazil, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa, Belarus, Nigeria, and Vietnam, to advance a shared declaration on responsible and equitable AI development.

The meeting was moderated throughout by Prof. Debashis Mitra, Vice President (International), INSA, who steered structured dialogue among the participating academies. In his welcome remarks, Prof. Mitra noted that the forum is being organised as part of India’s BRICS Presidency 2026 under the theme “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability,” and underscored INSA’s central role in advancing this scientific agenda.

KEY OUTCOMES AT A GLANCE

• Draft declaration on AI for Science and Sustainable Development reviewed and strengthened
• Consensus on shared computing infrastructure, collaborative data platforms and multilingual AI models
• Calls for joint task forces, researcher mobility schemes and open-source scientific infrastructure
• Onsite Second meeting for BRICS Science Academies Forum to be held during 22-23, July 2026 at IIT Hyderabad

 

INDIA LEADS BRICS SCIENCE COOPERATION

India holds the BRICS Presidency in 2026 under the theme 'Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability. In this capacity, INSA is spearheading scientific collaboration across BRICS nations and partner countries. The forum serves as the preparatory platform for the full-scale BRICS Science Academies Forum Meeting 2026, scheduled for July at IIT Hyderabad.

"This forum aspires to move beyond dialogue. AI must become a practical instrument for inclusive and sustainable development across the Global South."  — Prof. Shekhar C. Mande, President, INSA

 

DRAFT DECLARATION: BRIDGING THE AI DIVIDE

Prof. Ambuj Sagar, Founding Head, School of Public Policy, IIT Delhi, presented the draft declaration, highlighting critical issues around the unequal distribution of AI capacity and the widening digital divide between developed and developing nations. The declaration seeks to harness AI to accelerate scientific discovery, spanning materials science, drug development, climate modelling, and engineering, while ensuring that benefits reach the Global South equitably.

 

VOICES FROM THE FORUM

Participating academies contributed targeted recommendations to sharpen the declaration:

• China (Chinese Academy of Sciences) called for collaborative AI readiness benchmarks, scientific data-sharing frameworks, open-source infrastructure and responsible AI evaluation mechanisms addressing bias, reliability and local context.
• Egypt (ASRT) underscored AI's potential for food security, healthcare, education, energy and climate change, and called for greater investments in research, capacity building and equitable AI deployment.
• Indonesia stressed AI's role in disaster risk management, climate mitigation, early warning systems, greenhouse gas reduction and sustainable agriculture.
• Ethiopia advocated for dedicated cooperation on cybersecurity, digital safety and combating cross-border cybercrime, alongside higher education and research partnerships.
• Vietnam proposed establishing joint task forces, thematic working groups and shared digital public infrastructure, with joint training programmes to bridge AI skill gaps.
• Nigeria underscored the importance of advancing artificial intelligence applications for scientific innovation, governance, and national development priorities.
• South Africa discussed the role of AI for future generations, raised concerns about costs and social sciences dimensions, and endorsed the open-source AI model.
• Belarus stressed responsible AI use with special emphasis on healthcare innovation, data security and advanced cybersecurity measures in the AI era.

 

CONVERGENT PRIORITIES FOR BRICS AI COOPERATION

Drawing from the deliberations, Prof. Anurag Agrawal, Vice-President (Science Policy), INSA, identified cross-cutting themes of consensus: shared computing infrastructure; open data ecosystems; technology sovereignty; energy-efficient data centres; human resource development; and multilingual AI resources. Beyond large language models, participants noted the strategic value of smaller, task-oriented industrial models in domains where errors carry high consequences.

"South-South BRICS cooperation in AI can bring change in a far more equitable way, one that leads to genuinely sustainable development."  — Prof. Anurag Agrawal, Vice-President (Science Policy), INSA

The meeting reaffirmed that humanities and social sciences must be integral to AI development, and that governance frameworks, ethical standards and robust data-sharing mechanisms are non-negotiable for trustworthy AI systems.

NEXT STEPS

The recommendations from today's meeting will be incorporated into the revised draft declaration. Dr. Brajesh Pandey, Executive Director, INSA, announced that delegations from BRICS countries and partner nations will convene in person for second meeting at IIT Hyderabad during 22-23, July 2026, where the declaration is expected to be finalised.

CSIR–NIScPR, the scientific and technological information policy research institute of CSIR, also participated in and contributed to the deliberations.

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