BRICS names Pak terror groups

Xiamen: For the first time, Pakistan-based terror groups like the LeT and the JeM were named on Monday for causing violence in the region by the BRICS Summit that also asserted that those responsible for committing, organising or supporting terror acts must be held accountable.

In a significant diplomatic win for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Michael Temer and South African President Jacob Zuma in strongly denouncing terror activities of such groups, as they expressed determination to collectively fight the scourge.

The 43-page 'Xiamen Declaration', adopted at the end of the five-nation BRICS plenary, stressed on the need for immediate cessation of violence in Afghanistan.

It expressed "concern" over the security situation in the region and the violence caused by the Taliban, ISIS, al-Qaeda and its affiliates, including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Hizb ut-Tahrir. Significantly, the ETIM is active in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China and seeks to establish a separate "East Turkistan".

According to officials, Modi raised the issue of terrorism strongly at the BRICS Summit and was joined by other leaders, who expressed willingness to fight this menace. "For the first time, specific listing of terror organisations has been made (in the BRICS declaration)," Secretary (East) in the external affairs ministry Preeti Saran told reporters.

The inclusion of Pakistan-based terror groups in the declaration is also significant as it indicated a slight shift in the Chinese view towards terror groups operating out of Pakistan.

During the last BRICS Summit in Goa, China did not allow the inclusion of Pakistan-based terror groups in the declaration despite the fact that the Summit was taking place within weeks of the Uri terror strike carried out by a Pakistan-based militant group.

However, now it is to be seen that after being part of such a strongly-worded declaration on terrorism and indicting Pakistan-based terror group JeM, how China will act towards the designation of Jaish's chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.

After the declaration was issued, the Chinese foreign ministry today parried questions on any change in its stand of blocking Azhar's banning by the UN. Currently, China has put a hold on the proposal to ban Azhar moved by the US and some other countries at the UN's Sanction's Committee. The declaration referred to terrorism at least 17 times, apart from mentioning other forms of extremism and radicalisation.

During the BRICS Summit here, India also offered to host a conference on countering radicalisation. Talking about India's position on terrorism, Saran told reporters, "Terrorism is a scourge that has to be addressed collectively by the entire international community.

And, I think, increasingly there is a realisation that you cannot have double standards in tackling this scourge." "You cannot have good and bad terrorists. It is a collective action," she said.