BRICS rejects double standards in countering terrorism

New Delhi, Sep 23: The BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have rejected the double standards in countering terrorism and have called for the finalisation and adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism within the UN framework.

This call for expeditious adoption of the convention came at a meeting of the foreign affairs ministers of the BRICS including India's External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar along with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and others on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York chaired by South Africa on Thursday.

During the meeting, the ministers exchanged their views on major global and regional issues on the United Nations agenda in the political, security, economic, financial and sustainable development spheres, as well as on intra-BRICS activities.

The foreign ministers rejected double standards in countering terrorism and extremism. They also called for the finalization and adoption of the comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

"They committed to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, stressed their commitment to the peaceful resolution of differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation, and supported all efforts conducive to the peaceful settlement of situation in Ukraine," said the ministry of external affairs in a statement.

Along with the foreign ministers of India, China, and Russia, the foreign ministers of South Africa Naledi Pandor, Brazil Carlos Alberto Franco França participated in the meeting.

The ministers also acknowledged to cover the production and supply of COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics.

They called for the implementation of sustainable development goals in a balanced and integrated manner.

For climate change, they stressed the urgency of developed countries' commitments to provide additional financing and technology transfer to developing countries.

The ministers extended their support to South Africa for its BRICS chairship in 2023.