XIAMEN: India and four other BRICS nations today pledged to abide by the principle of utilising outer space for peaceful purposes.
The Xiamen Declaration, issued at the end of the BRICS Summit's plenary session, said the member countries will also work together to promote the most effective use of fossil fuels and wider use of gas, hydro and nuclear power.
It added that this will contribute to the transformation towards a low emissions economy, better energy access, and sustainable development.
"We adhere to the principle of utilising outer space for peaceful purposes and emphasise the need to strengthen the international cooperation in space activities in order to use space technologies to respond to global climate change, environmental protection, disaster prevention and relief and other challenges faced by humankind," the declaration said.
Brazil, Russia, India, China, are the four nations of the BRICS are space-faring nations, while South Africa has a nascent space programme.