1.BRICS seeks ‘inclusive’ intra-Afghan dialogue

5-member group adopts Counter Terrorism Action Plan

The 13th BRICS summit held virtually on Thursday called for an “inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue” for stability in Afghanistan.

The virtual summit, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was dominated by the developments in Afghanistan, and adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan.

“We have also adopted the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan. With the agreement on Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation between our space agencies, a new chapter of cooperation has begun,” Mr. Modi said, highlighting the key items on the agenda of the summit.

‘Use peaceful means’

The discussion on Afghanistan at the event attended by the leaders of India, Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa was held against the backdrop of the Taliban announcing an interim government in Kabul. The BRICS leaders called for “settling the situation by peaceful means”, and condemned the terrorist attacks at the Hamid Karzai International Airport which killed at least 100 persons, including several U.S. military personnel.

“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. 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,” declared a joint statement issued at the end of the summit.

The document, titled the New Delhi Declaration, also called for addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and urged the need to uphold rights of women, children and minorities.

Highlights

• This discussion took place at the sixth meeting of the BRICS Anti-Terrorism Working Group held on July 28 to 29.
• The working group meeting was held on a virtual basis, with the participation of the working group member states India, Russia, Brazil, China and South Africa.
• The BRICS countries also exchanged views on the assessment of terrorist threats at the national, regional and global levels, and are determined to further strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation in accordance with the action plan.
• The action plan is one of the key elements of India’s tenure as BRICS President and is expected to be adopted at the BRICS National Security Advisors meeting scheduled for August.

The Action Plan

The action plan is the result of the BRICS leaders’ adoption of the BRICS counter-terrorism strategy in 2020. Prior to the meeting of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group, five themed sub-working groups were held in July 26 to 27. They are deradicalisation, Internet Exploitation for Terrorist Purposes, Developing Counter-Terrorism Financing Capabilities, Countering Foreign Terrorist Fighters and capacity building.

Conclusion

The document will help strengthen cooperation within the BRICS countries in the fight against terrorism, radicalization, terrorist financing and terrorist abuse of the Internet. It will also curb terrorist travel, strengthen border controls, and protect easy to hit targets.