The leaders of BRICS, a multinational grouping that represents 25 per cent of the global GDP, will meet in Goa over the weekend to discuss among other things the state of the world economy, ways to spur economic growth and sustainable but a dominant theme will be terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism emanating from India's immediate neighbourhood.
Secretary (Economic Relations) Amar Sinha in the Ministry of External Affairs says one can expect the outcome document, which will be issued towards the end of the summit on Sunday, to contain "strong" paragraphs on how to deal with countries that provide sanctuaries and safe havens to terrorists.
Sinha points out that the national security advisers (NSAs) of the BRICS countries, who recently met in New Delhi, discussed the issue of terror financing and tackling the sources of weapons that find their way into the hands of terrorists.
"So these would get reflected in the BRICS Declaration," says Sinha, adding that national positions will be iterated in the document.
For its part, India is pushing the BRICS to set aside their differences on semantics as to what should be the definition of a terrorist so that progress could be made on other issues related to combating terrorism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has consistently raised this issue at every multilateral for a in the recent past, including the G20 Summit at China and the East Asia Summit in Vietnam.
Modi is likely to raise it again in his bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping of China after Beijing put a technical hold for the second consecutive time on the proposed United Nations ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar who India accuses of carrying out terrorist attacks, most recently at Uri.
The challenge before New Delhi will be to overcome the apparent reluctance or inability of the international community in general and China in particular to forge a consensus on combating terrorism. It becomes even difficult for India because China sees Pakistan as an all-weather ally and a countervail to New Delhi.
Modi's bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia promises to be a highlight of his engagements on the margins of the BRICS Summit.
The two will meet on Saturday for the 17th India-Russia Annual Summit. The Indian foreign ministry says "important bilateral agreements are expected to be concluded and a joint statement released at the end of the [bilateral] summit."
An indication of what some of those agreements will be can be had from the remarks made by Yuri Ushakov, a Putin aide, who told reporters in Moscow on Thursday that the two sides are likely to sign 18 documents.
"One of the central themes,"according to him, "will be cooperation in the field of nuclear energy."
A raft of defence deals is also likely to be clinched on the occasion, including, but not limited to, the sale and subsequent manufacture in India of Kamov helicopters, upgradation of the Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter jets and the purchase of advanced air defence missile systems.
Russia is still by far the mainstay of India's defence inventory but it has of late been overtaken by the United States and Israel but if the proposed outcome of the Modi-Putin talks is anything to go by then it will mark an upward turn in the fortunes of Russia's strategic ties with India.
Collective solutions
Goa, a popular destination for tourists, is hosting the eighth BRICS Summit this weekend. The theme of this year's summit will be "Building responsive, inclusive and collective solutions."
While people-to-people ties and business-to-business contacts will be in the table, terrorism can be expected to figure prominently on its agenda.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "President Xi Jinping is greeted by Russian President Vladimir Putin")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}