BRICS nations at UN reaffirm commitment to fighting terrorism

UNITED NATIONS: The BRICS countries have strongly condemned terrorism in all forms and its manifestations and called for a comprehensive reform of the United Nations to allow India and the fellow members of the five-nation bloc to play an important role in the world body.
Foreign ministers of BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – on Thursday met on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly Sessions in New York.
The ministers, in a joint statement, also reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN including the Security Council.
Russia and China, the two permanent members of the Security Council from the bloc, reiterated in their statements the significance of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and “supported their aspiration” to play a greater role in the world body.
The meeting, which was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, comes weeks after the BRICS summit in China, during which the group took a strong stand against terrorism and even named Pakistan-based terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) for causing violence in the region.
“The ministers reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. They urged concerted efforts to counter terrorism on a firm international legal basis, under the UN auspices, and expressed their conviction that a comprehensive approach was necessary to ensure effective fight against terrorism,” the joint statement said.
“They reaffirmed their commitment to an expeditious adoption of a Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the United Nations. The ministers stressed the role of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group in further deepening the dialogue on counter terrorism cooperation,” it said.

The leaders also expressed concerns over continuing conflicts and situations in several regions across the world which undermine stability and security and provide fertile grounds for terrorist activities and cause refugee and migration waves.
They supported the political and diplomatic solutions of conflicts and situations, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and in Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, and in Africa, and the Korean Peninsula, the statement read.
Exchanging views on global and regional issues in the economic and political spheres, the ministers recognised that global economic recovery is gaining momentum though uncertainties and downside risks persist globally.
Noting that BRICS countries continued important role as engines of global growth, the ministers reiterated the need to boost world economic growth including through macro-economic policy coordination and improving global economic governance.

Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome document, the ministers “reaffirm the need for a comprehensive reform of the UN, including its Security Council,” with a view to making it more representative, effective and efficient.

This they said is essential to increase the representation of the developing countries so that it can adequately respond to global challenges, the statement said.

“China and Russia reiterate the importance they attach to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and support their aspiration to play a greater role in the UN,” it said.
The next BRICS summit would be held in South Africa in 2018.