The BRICS Youth Council Meeting and BRICS Youth Summit were successfully held in Gandhinagar on Wednesday as part of India’s BRICS Chairship 2026, bringing together young leaders, delegates and officials from BRICS member and partner countries for discussions on youth-centric cooperation and shared global priorities.
Organised by the Department of Youth Affairs under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, the events were held under India’s BRICS Chairship theme, “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”.
The inaugural session was attended by Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi, Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Gujarat Acting Chief Secretary Anju Sharma, Additional Secretary in the Department of Youth Affairs Nitesh Kumar Mishra, and heads of delegation and representatives from BRICS member and partner countries.
The Youth Summit provided a platform for young leaders, officials and ministers to exchange ideas and discuss issues of importance to young people. The deliberations focused on strengthening youth participation in sustainable development, promoting people-to-people ties and building a more inclusive and prosperous future.
Discussions at the summit were organised around four key areas of youth cooperation – education, entrepreneurship and future readiness; inclusive development and youth wellbeing; sustainability and environmental responsibility; and people-to-people cooperation and youth engagement.
Participants shared their experiences and innovative approaches while exploring opportunities for greater cooperation among young people across BRICS countries.
The BRICS Youth Council Meeting was held alongside the summit and brought together representatives of BRICS member countries to deliberate on key areas of youth cooperation. The Council discussed the Draft Joint Declaration and the BRICS Youth Cooperation Framework, taking into account observations, national experiences and best practices shared by participating countries.
The deliberations are expected to contribute to consensus-based outcomes ahead of the BRICS Youth Ministers’ Meeting scheduled to be held on August 22 in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
The participating delegates also experienced Gujarat’s cultural heritage through traditional cuisine and cultural interactions, providing opportunities for exchanges on the diverse traditions and practices of the participating countries.
The successful conclusion of the two-day youth engagements in Gandhinagar reaffirmed India’s emphasis on youth-led cooperation during its BRICS Chairship and its effort to provide young people with meaningful platforms to contribute to the grouping’s shared priorities.
