The Indian government on July 19 approved a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) in respect of tax matters between New Delhi and the revenue administrations of other BRICS countries, namely, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, officials said.

The decision was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"The MoC aims to further promote cooperation amongst the BRICS revenue administrations in international forum on common areas of interest in tax matters and in the area of capacity building and knowledge sharing," a government spokesman said.

"It envisages regular interaction amongst the heads of revenue administration of BRICS countries to continue discussion on common areas of interest and strive towards convergence of views and meeting of the experts on tax matters to discuss the contemporary issues in areas of international tax," he said.

The MoC, according to Indian officials, would stimulate effective cooperation in tax matters.

"The collective stand of BRICS countries can prove to be beneficial not only to these countries, but also to other developing countries in the long run in tax matters being steered by the G20," the spokesman said.