Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday inaugurated the Second BRICS Technical Meeting of the Disaster Risk Reduction Group in the coastal town of Puri, the Chief Minister's Office of Odisha announced on X. The session brings together technical delegates from BRICS member states to advance cooperation on early-warning systems, response protocols and climate-linked resilience.

The post from the Chief Minister's Office read, 'LIVE: Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri @MohanMOdisha inaugurates the Second BRICS Technical Meeting of Disaster Risk Reduction Group at Puri,' accompanied by a live video link of the inaugural proceedings.

Context

The choice of Puri as venue is symbolic. The temple town sits on Odisha's cyclone-prone coastline and has repeatedly been on the frontline of severe weather events, making it a fitting backdrop for a discussion centred on disaster preparedness.

Mohan Charan Majhi, who took charge as Chief Minister in June 2024 after the Bharatiya Janata Party's assembly victory, has used multiple platforms to position Odisha as a state with hard-won operational experience in cyclone and flood management. Hosting an international technical meeting reinforces that pitch.

Policy backdrop

BRICS member states established a dedicated Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015, institutionalising exchanges on hazard mapping, response coordination and post-disaster recovery. The grouping, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has expanded since 2024 to include additional members, broadening the technical conversation.

Odisha's own State Disaster Management Authority, set up in 2000 in the wake of the devastating 1999 super cyclone, is widely cited within Indian policy circles as a model for state-level disaster governance. Subsequent investments in cyclone shelters, evacuation drills and the 'zero-casualty' approach during storms such as Phailin and Fani have given the state a distinct profile in DRR diplomacy.

Stakeholders and impact

The Puri meeting is expected to draw technical officials from BRICS capitals, alongside Indian central and state agencies dealing with meteorology, emergency response and coastal management. Coastal communities across the bloc, many of them grappling with intensifying storm cycles, are the eventual beneficiaries of any protocols or pilots that emerge.

For Odisha, the gathering is also an exercise in sub-national diplomacy. By fronting a BRICS sectoral event, the state government underscores the federal layer of India's foreign-policy outreach, a pattern visible in earlier G20 working group sessions hosted across Indian states.

What's next

Attention will turn to whether the technical meeting produces a joint statement, recommended frameworks or pilot collaborations that can be carried forward to the next BRICS summit. India's follow-up reporting at subsequent ministerial and leaders' meetings will indicate how much of the Puri agenda translates into bloc-wide policy.

For Chief Minister Majhi, the inauguration offers an opportunity to project Odisha's disaster-management template onto an international stage, even as the state continues to brace for another monsoon season along its long, exposed coastline.