Amid the escalating crisis in Afghanistan, leaders of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries adopted a "New Delhi Declaration" on the war-torn country, calling for refraining from violence and settling the situation by peaceful means. The leaders also called for an inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue to ensure stability, civil peace, law and order in Afghanistan. The summit was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and saw participation from his counterparts -- Vladimir Putin of Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro. The meeting was also attended by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
This comes in the backdrop of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan after the US and its NATO allies withdrew from the country, leading to the collapse of the government. "The withdrawal of the US forces and its allies from Afghanistan has led to a new crisis in Afghanistan," said the Russian President, while noting, "it is still unclear how this will affect global and regional security."
Speaking at the virtual summit, Putin also said, "It is for good reason that our countries have paid special attention to this issue."
Advocating for Afghanistan which has been ravaged by the years of war that has killed thousands of locals and plunged the country into a major humanitarian crisis, Putin also said that he wants the "world stay away from their internal affairs and respect their sovereignty". "The citizens of this country have fought for decades and deserve to exercise the right of defining what their state will look like on their own," he noted.
Meanwhile, PM Modi in his opening remarks said the BRICS platform has been useful for focussing attention on the priorities of the developing countries. "Today we are an influential voice for emerging economies of the world. This platform has also been useful for focussing attention on the priories of the developing nations as well," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, PM Modi in his opening remarks said the BRICS platform has been useful for focussing attention on the priorities of the developing countries. "Today we are an influential voice for emerging economies of the world. This platform has also been useful for focussing attention on the priories of the developing nations as well," he said.
{{/usCountry}}The theme for the Summit is 'BRICS@15: Intra-BRICS cooperation for continuity, consolidation and consensus'. The summit this year coincides with the 15th anniversary of the BRICS.
The BRICS brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade. This was the second time Prime Minister Modi chaired the BRICS summit. Earlier, he had chaired the Goa summit in 2016.