India's National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval on Monday attended the meetings of the NSAs of the BRICS member states in the South African capital, Johannesburg where he discussed a series of pressing issues including cybersecurity and its linkage with terrorism.
"NSA highlighted the need for collective efforts to deal with challenges emanating from cybersecurity. The Global South in particular needed to overcome limitations of resources. In this endeavour, India will always remain at the forefront working closely with the Global South," according to the statement released following the crucial meeting.
Notably, BRICS is a grouping of the world economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa formed in 2009 intending to promote peace, security, development and cooperation, especially in the global south.
Doval highlights the use of AI in mushrooming terrorism
Moreover, Doval, during the meeting, underscored the menace of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and asserted that the gravity of cyber risks will increase exponentially with the advent of technologies. Further, he underscored the menace of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and asserted that the gravity of cyber risks will increase exponentially with the advent of technologies. "NSA highlighted that the gravity of cyber risks will increase exponentially with the advent of disruptive technologies such as AI, Big Data and the Internet of Things," noted Doval.
"NSA highlighted that the gravity of cyber risks will increase exponentially with the advent of disruptive technologies such as AI, Big Data and the Internet of Things," he added.
He also highlighted the linkages between cyber criminals and terrorists including the use of cyberspace for financing, money laundering, radicalizing, lone wolf attacks, recruitment and secured communications. Further, he emphasised that the younger populations were particularly susceptible to the spread of extremist ideologies through the use of social media sites amid the fact that "they are technology savvy and have impressionable minds".
India, which has been vocal against terrorism on various international stages, had appealed to the participating nations to tackle the subject without any reservations when the NSA attended the meeting last year.
India-China bilateral meeting still unclear
Although the routine meetings were attended by top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, it was not immediately clear whether the most populous country in the world would hold any bilateral talks with the Communist leader. It is worth mentioning that the meeting between New Delhi and Beijing is considered crucial amid the fact the two nations engaged in a deadly clash in Ladakh in May 2020. Nevertheless, holding multiple meetings with commanders and defence ministers of both sides, the issue betwixt is still unsettled.
Besides, the meeting was attended by South African minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Russian NSA Nikolai Patrushev, Yi and other NSAs from member countries and friends of BRICS who were invited to attend the mega summit.
