Leaders express concern over Afghan crisis at 13th annual BRICS summit

Deliberations on the recent developments in Afghanistan dominated the 13th annual BRICS summit on Thursday. Hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the virtual meeting saw all the premiers of member countries expressing concern over the Taliban takeover of the country and said that the Afghan territory should not be used for terrorism and drug trafficking.

“Afghan territory should not be used to carry out attacks against other countries as well as for drug trade. We emphasise the need to address the humanitarian situation and to uphold human rights, including those of minorities,” a BRICS declaration said.

Speaking at the summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the Afghanistan issue and said that the withdrawal of the US forces from the country has created a “new crisis” in the region.

All the leaders commit to combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the cross-border movement of terrorists. “We reiterate that terrorism should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group,” the declaration said.

Chairing the summit for the second time Prime Minister Modi urged all the member countries to jointly work towards combating pertinent global issues and ensure cooperation across all fronts in view of the current COVID situation. Lauding the BRICS (Brazil- Russia-India-China-South Africa) efforts for making many achievements in the last one-and-half years, Modi said that today the group of countries has become an influential voice of emerging economies of the world. 

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