BEIJING: In addressing terrorism, the BRICS declaration named organizations including the Pakistan-based militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, the Islamic State group and al-Qaida.
Saran said it was the first time there had been a specific listing of alleged terrorist groups in a BRICS document, calling that “a very important development.”
China, a key ally of Pakistan, has repeatedly blocked India’s attempts to have the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammad, Masood Azhar, put on a U.N. Security Council terror blacklist. India has accused archrival Pakistan of harboring and training militants to launch attacks on its soil.
China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council and has been seen as using that clout to gain an edge in its political and economic rivalry with India. The nuclear-armed Asian giants recently ended a 10-week border standoff high in the Himalayas that re-awakened memories of their 1962 frontier war, paving the way for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the BRICS summit in China.
Saran denied any connection between China’s agreement to list the Pakistan-based organizations and the withdrawal of Indian troops from the contested Himalayan area last week.
“This is a multilateral forum with five sovereign countries. There is no linkage to any other development,” she said.
At earlier BRICS summits, China balked at India raising Pakistan-sponsored terrorism allegations and defended its ally’s role in countering terrorism, said Sreeram Chaulia, dean of the Jindal School of International Affairs near New Delhi.
The inclusion of the two Pakistan-based groups in the declaration shows that “India has finally succeeded in persuading all BRICS members that Islamist fundamentalists pose a universal threat,” Chaulia said.
That came despite comments by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying on Thursday that China did not consider Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts to be an “appropriate topic” at the summit.
Saran said Modi and Putin discussed oil and gas cooperation and how to promote trade and investment between their two nations. Xi and Modi are expected to hold a meeting on the sidelines of the summit tomorrow.
The declaration also expressed concern about the Haqqani network that is active in Afghanistan, and the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, accused by Beijing of fomenting unrest in China’s northeastern region of Xinjiang.
The declaration said nations should unite to fight terrorist groups in accordance with the principles of international law, but emphasized the importance of not interfering in the sovereign affairs of individual states.