The Brics group said on Thursday that Afghanistan’s territory should not become a sanctuary for terrorist groups to launch attacks on other nations and called for inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue to ensure stability and peace in the country devastated by the war after the Taliban took over.
The Delhi Declaration issued after a virtual summit of Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (Brics) expressed concern over events in Afghanistan and called for “abstaining from violence” and resolve the situation peacefully. ” The group stressed the importance of fighting terrorism and defending human rights, including those of women and minorities.
The heavily drafted joint statement came two days after the Taliban unveiled a temporary facility in Kabul led by Mohammad Hasan Akhund and dominated by 17 leaders sanctioned by the UN Security Council. Despite recent statements by Taliban leaders that they would form an inclusive government, the new regime consisted mainly of members of the group’s former guard and top military commanders such as Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The Delhi Declaration, published at the conclusion of the summit, stated: “We emphasize the priority of combating terrorism, including the prevention of attempts by terrorist organizations to use Afghan territory as a terrorist sanctuary and to carry out attacks. against other countries, as well as the drug trade. within Afghanistan. ”
While urging all parties to refrain from violence and resolve the situation peacefully, the statement added: “We emphasize the need to contribute to fostering inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue to ensure stability, civil peace, peace and security. law and order the country. ”
Brics members condemned the terrorist attacks near Kabul airport on August 26 that killed more than 180 people, mostly Afghans and 13 U.S. military personnel. They also stressed the need to address the humanitarian situation and “defend human rights, including those of women, children and minorities,” according to the statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was the only one of the five leaders who raised the situation in Afghanistan in the opening televised statements, saying all members of Brics do not want Afghanistan to remain a threat to to its neighbors or that Afghan territory is a source of drug trafficking and terrorism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted in his initial statements that the group had adopted the Brics counter-terrorism action plan. The plan aims to implement the Brics counterterrorism strategy adopted by national security advisers and defines the focus of cooperation in this field, including joint efforts to identify and respond to “persistent and emerging threats of terror.”
People familiar with the developments said, on condition of anonymity, that the situation in Afghanistan and the threat of terrorism emanating from Afghan territory were widely featured in the closed deliberations between the five leaders. Putin highlighted the dangers posed by terrorism, while Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro pointed to the problem of narcotics coming from Afghanistan, people said.
“The Russian position, as outlined by President Putin and Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian security council, during his visit this week, is very similar to India’s position and we have similar concerns regarding the ‘Afghanistan,’ said one of the people mentioned above.
Informing the media after the summit, Secretary Sanjay Bhattacharyya, who is the Sherpa of Brics, said a key outcome of the meeting was a “strong consensus consensus” on Afghanistan, which supports the India’s perspective on the evolution of the war-torn country and the region.
“There was a very strong condemnation of terrorism and that Afghan territory should not be used for terrorism or drug trafficking, and that it should not become a cause of trouble in the neighborhood,” he said. to say. He highlighted the role of the UN Security Council in addressing humanitarian aspects of the situation, he said.
Putin, in his initial statements, said that close collaboration between the states of Brics is necessary because the situation around the world remains turbulent and long-standing regional conflicts spread with renewed vigor.
“The withdrawal of the United States and its allies from Afghanistan has caused a new crisis and it is still unclear how this will affect regional and global security,” he said.
Russia and its Brics partners have “constantly advocated the establishment of a long-awaited peace and stability on Afghan soil,” and the country’s people “have fought for many decades and earned the right to independently determine how it will be his state, “Putin added.
“We are interested in Afghanistan ceasing to be a threat to our neighbors, so that terrorism and illegal drug trafficking threaten us from Afghan territory. We are interested in stopping migratory flows. We advocate that Afghans can live. peacefully and with dignity in his homeland, ”he said.
Putin also said that the current crisis in Afghanistan stems directly from “irresponsible attempts to impose foreign values from outside and the desire to build so-called democratic structures through socio-political engineering methods without even taking into account the historical characteristics or other peoples and ignoring their traditions ”.
“All this causes destabilization and chaos, after which the authors of these experiments retreat, abandoning their positions to their fate. As a result, the entire international community will have to clear up the mess, “Putin said, without naming the United States.
Bhattacharyya said all leaders focused on post-Covid-19 recovery and vaccines during their deliberations in light of the widespread disruption caused by the pandemic. Modi noted that Brics ’post-pandemic agenda should focus on recovery, resilience, innovation, credibility and sustainability.
Leaders discussed the need for extensive vaccination and vaccine development. A vaccine R&D center is now being proposed as a virtual network to facilitate the development and distribution of vaccines.
The Delhi Declaration lamented the “blatant inequity in access to vaccines, diagnostic and therapeutic, especially for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations” and highlighted the “importance of safe, effective, accessible and affordable vaccines “.
Leaders also discussed reforms by multilateral bodies such as the UN Security Council with a view to the long-standing sense that existing systems must respond to the needs of global governance and be more sensitive.
There were also discussions about the New Development Bank (NDB), which has emerged as a flagship project for economic and financial cooperation among Brics members. The bank has provided $ 29 billion in financing to 73 infrastructure projects, including $ 7 billion for 18 projects in India.
The Delhi Declaration further stated that the world community has a “collective responsibility to work together against the Covid-19 pandemic” within existing international frameworks such as the WHO, and noted that cooperation in the “origins of the SARS-COV-2 is an important aspect of the fight ”.
He added: “We support science-based processes, which include extensive experience, transparent and timely, free from politicization or interference, to strengthen international capacities to better understand the emergence of new pathogens and help prevent future pandemics.” .