8th BRICS Working Group Meeting on Ocean and Polar Science and Technology Begins in Goa

The 8th BRICS Working Group Meeting on Ocean and Polar Science and Technology (OPST) is being held in Goa from 12‑14 August 2026 under India’s BRICS Presidency 2026. Hosted by the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (MoES), the meeting was inaugurated by Dr. M. Rajeevan and featured a keynote on India’s Blue Economy Initiatives. Delegates from Brazil, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates and India are discussing bilateral, trilateral and multilateral cooperation, joint research, capacity building, scientific exchanges and shared use of research infrastructure. The OPST Working Group, set up in 2018, aims to promote scientific cooperation and knowledge exchange among BRICS members.