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BRICS increases anti-drug, counter-terrorism cooperation – Putin

He said BRICS “identifies what is to be done based on action plans adopted at the group's annual summits”

MOSCOW, March 21 (Itar-Tass) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is confident that a plan of action, which will be adopted at the BRICS summit in Durban, will strengthen partnership between Russia, Brazil, China, India and South Africa.

In an interview with Itar-Tass ahead of the BRICS summit to be held in South Africa on March 26-27, Putin said, “We are currently negotiating a new plan we will discuss at the meeting in Durban. I am confident that it will help us develop a closer partnership. We expect that we will be able to closer coordinate our approaches to key issues on the agenda of the forthcoming G20 summit in St Petersburg, increase our cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking and production, and our efforts to counter terrorist, criminal and military threats in cyberspace.”

He said BRICS “identifies what is to be done based on action plans adopted at the group's annual summits”. In his words, “Last year's Delhi Action Plan outlined 17 areas of cooperation, including meetings of Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, joint meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors on the sidelines of the G20, World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, as well as contacts between other agencies.”

“It is of great importance for Russia to increase its trade and investment cooperation with its BRICS partners and launch new multilateral business projects involving our nations’ business communities,” the head of state said. “In Durban we intend to announce the formal establishment of the BRICS Business Council designed to support that activity. The summit will be preceded by the BRICS Business Forum, which will bring together more than 900 business community representatives from our countries.”

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