PM Modi chairs BRICS Summit, world leaders call for settling Afghan situation by peaceful means: Takeaways

World leaders on Thursday called for settling the ongoing situation in Afghanistan by “peaceful means”, during the 13th BRICS Summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The summit was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazil’s Jair Bolsanaro. 

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade.

13TH BRICS SUMMIT – TAKEAWAYS

• The five-nation influential grouping called for refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful means. “We call for refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful means. We stress the need to contribute to fostering an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue so as to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in the country,” the BRICS said.
• The grouping also condemned in strongest terms the terrorist attacks near Kabul Airport recently that resulted in a large number of deaths and injuries. “We underscore the priority of fighting terrorism, including preventing attempts by terrorist organisations to use Afghan territory as a terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks against other countries, as well as drug trade within Afghanistan. We emphasise the need to address the humanitarian situation and to uphold human rights, including those of women, children and minorities,” the BRICS said.
• Referring to the threat of terrorism, the BRICS said it is committed to combating the menace in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists.
• The summit also endorsed the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan for implementing the grouping’s Counter-Terrorism Strategy that was adopted by the NSAs of the member nations of the grouping. “We express strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations whenever, wherever and by whomsoever committed. We recognize the threat emanating from terrorism, extremism conducive to terrorism and radicalisation,” it said.
• Reiterating that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group, the leaders said, “We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to contribute further to the global efforts of preventing and countering the threat of terrorism on the basis of respect for international law”. “We reject double standards in countering terrorism and extremism conducive to terrorism. We call for expeditious finalisation and adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism within the UN framework,” it said.

WHAT PM MODI SAID

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India has received full cooperation from all BRICS partners during its chairmanship and listed various achievements of the grouping. “Today we are an influential voice for the emerging economies of the world. This platform has also been useful for focusing attention on the priorities of developing nations as well,” he said.

The BRICS has created strong institutions like the New Development Bank, the Contingency Reserve Arrangement and the Energy Research Cooperation Platform, he noted. “These are all very strong institutions,” he added.

“However, it is also important that we do not become too self-satisfied and we must ensure that BRICS is even more result-oriented in the next 15 years,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the grouping has achieved several “firsts” and referred to the holding of the first-ever BRICS digital summit recently.

“This is an innovative step to increase health access with the help of technology. In November, our Water Resources Ministers will be meeting for the first time under the BRICS format. It is also the first time that BRICS has taken a collective position on ‘Strengthening and Reforming Multilateral Systems’,” Modi said.

“We have also adopted the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Action Plan,” he said. The Prime Minister said with cooperation between the customs departments, intra- BRICS trade will become easier. “There has also been a consensus with regards to starting a virtual BRICS vaccination research and development centre. BRICS Alliance on green tourism is also another new initiative,” he said.

WHAT VLADIMIR PUTIN SAID

President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to continue cooperation with its partners in the BRICS group in all fields, asserting that the strengthening of cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus is the goal that the entire international community is striving to achieve.

Addressing the 13th BRICS summit hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a video link, Putin said that the theme that India chose for the meeting and the entire year, that is, the strengthening of cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus, is quite relevant, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported.

“In fact, this is the goal that the entire international community is facing and five BRICS members play a significant and notable role in achieving this goal,” the Russian president said.

Russia is ready to continue cooperation with its partners in the BRICS group in all fields, he said.

“I expect our work today to be substantive and fruitful and I would like to point out once again that Russia is ready to continue close cooperation with all BRICS members in all fields,” Putin said.

WHAT XI JINPING SAID

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that the BRICS countries have become an important force on the international stage to be reckoned with, as he called for deepening cooperation among the member states to build a closer and more results-oriented partnership to meet common challenges.

Xi said that over the past 15 years, the five countries have enhanced strategic communication and political trust in the spirit of openness, inclusiveness and equality, respected each other’s social system and development path, and explored sound ways for countries to interact with each other.

While seeking synergy between their development policies and drawing on their complementarities, the five countries have made solid progress in various areas of cooperation in the spirit of pragmatism, innovation and win-win cooperation, and have forged ahead on the common journey of development, Xi said.

The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have supported multilateralism and taken part in global governance in the spirit of equity, justice, and mutual assistance, he said.

“What has happened shows that come what may, we can make smooth, solid and sustained progress in BRICS cooperation as long as we pull our minds and our efforts,” he was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

China will take over as the chair of BRICS and host the 14th BRICS summit next year, Xi said, adding that Beijing looks forward to working with the BRICS partners to deepen cooperation in all areas and build a closer and more results-oriented partnership to meet common challenges and create a better future.

News Credit: India TV News