New Delhi, BRICS nations on Thursday underscored 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.
The New Delhi Declaration, issued by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, after the 13th Leaders Summit chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in virtual mode, said: “We follow with concern the latest developments in Afghanistan.”
It called for "refraining from violence and settling the situation in Afghanistan 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 nations condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks near the Hamid Karzai Kabul International Airport last month 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 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,” it said in the paragraph devoted to Afghanistan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had noted during the deliberations that Afghan territory should not be used for drug trafficking and terrorism, and not pose a problem for neighbours, said Ministry of External Affairs Secretary Sanjay Bhattacharya later at a media briefing.
He also said that President Putin during the deliberations noted the rise of radical movements in Afghanistan, of the Islamic State, and there was strong endorsement of India’s position on this.
Earlier, in his opening remarks at the summit, President Putin had slammed the US and its allies for the Afghanistan crisis, and said it is still unclear how the Afghanistan situation will affect the regional and global security system.
Devoting a large part of his opening remarks to Afghanistan, Putin said: “We are all interested in Afghanistan ceasing to be a threat to its neighbours and that the Afghan territory would not be a source of drug trafficking and terrorism,” even as the world is still tackling the migration flows from the country.
He said the withdrawal from Afghanistan by the US and its allies has led to a new crisis, “and that’s why it is for good reason that our countries have paid special attention to this issue.”
“Russia like its BRICS partners has consistently spoken for establishing long-awaited peace and stability on the Afghan soil,” he said.
Putin said the theme of the summit, Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus’ “should in fact be the goal that the international community has to reach and the BRICS members have played a leading role, a prominent role in this”.
Putin’s comments come a day after India and Russia expressed deep concern over the developments in Afghanistan, especially over the presence of international terrorist groups there and the threat from terrorism spreading to Central Asia and India.
The situation in Afghanistan came up for a thorough review during talks here between India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and visiting Russian Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev on Wednesday.
Both sides saw convergence of views on all majors issues and common threats, including on the need for the Taliban to adhere to promises, on the threat from Islamic radicalisation and extremism, the presence of international terrorist groups in Afghanistan and threat from terrorism spreading to Central Asia and India.
The two sides also were in agreement on the threat posed from the flow of weapons to terrorist groups and the smuggling across Afghan borders.
They also voiced concern over the high chances of Afghanistan becoming a hub of opium production and trafficking.
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