Goa Declaration: BRICS nations condemn terrorism in all forms

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SME Times News Bureau | 18 Oct, 2016
The BRICS countries on Sunday condemned recent terror attacks across the globe, including India, and agreed to strengthen cooperation in combating international terrorism both at the bilateral level and at international fora.

They also urged nations to adopt a comprehensive approach to combat terrorism.

Adopting the Goa Declaration after the conclusion of the Eighth BRICS Summitin Goa , the group of five emerging economies of the world -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- unanimously hit out at the growing threat of terrorism.

"We strongly condemn the recent several attacks, against some BRICS countries, including that in India. We strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and stressed that there can be no justification whatsoever for any acts of terrorism, whether based upon ideological, religious, political, racial, ethnic or any other reasons," the declaration said.

To address the threat of chemical and biological terrorism, the BRICS nations also supported the need for launching multilateral negotiations on an international convention to suppress acts of chemical and biological terrorism.

"We call upon all nations to adopt a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism," the declaration said, adding that all counter-terrorism measures should uphold international law and respect human rights.

"We acknowledge that international terrorism, especially the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Daesh) and affiliated terrorist groups and individuals, constitute a global and unprecedented threat to international peace and security," it stated.

The BRICS countries stressed the UN's central role in coordinating multilateral approaches against terrorism.

"We urge all nations to undertake effective implementation of relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, and reaffirm our commitment on increasing the effectiveness of the UN counter terrorism framework."

"We call upon all nations to work together to expedite the adoption of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) in the UN General Assembly without any further delay. We recall the responsibility of all States to prevent terrorist actions from their territories," it added.

The declaration emphasised the importance of further strengthening BRICS solidarity and cooperation based on their common interests and key priorities to further strengthen strategic partnership among themselves in the spirit of openness, solidarity, equality, mutual understanding, inclusiveness and mutually beneficial cooperation.

"We agree that emerging challenges to global peace and security and to sustainable development require further enhancing of our collective efforts," the declaration said.

The BRICS countries expressed satisfaction over operationalisation of the New Development Bank (NDB) and of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA).

"We note with appreciation the approval of the first set of loans by the New Development Bank, particularly in the renewable energy projects in BRICS countries. We express satisfaction with NDB's issuance of the first set of green bonds in RMB. We are pleased to note that the operationalisation of BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangements has strengthened the global financial safety net," said the declaration.

The countries said that in order to reach out and enrich their "understanding and engagement" with fellow developing and emerging economies, they will hold an Outreach Summit of BRICS leaders with the leaders of Bimstec member countries.

"The meeting will be an opportunity to renew our friendship with Bimstec countries as well as to jointly explore possibilities of expanding trade and commercial ties,and investment cooperation between BRICS and Bimstec countries,while advancing our common goals of peace, development, democracy and prosperity," it stated.

The member countries also welcomed the measures undertaken by the UN to make the process of selecting and appointing the UN Secretary-General more transparent and inclusive.

"We express our gratitude to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his contributions to the United Nations in the past ten years. We congratulate António Guterres, on his appointment as the Secretary-General of the United Nations and express our support and to work closely with him," the BRICS declaraton said.

The BRICS nations called upon other nations to strengthen coordination of efforts to solve problems of the world.

"We reaffirm the need for strengthening coordination of efforts on global issues and practical cooperation in the spirit of solidarity, mutual understanding and trust. We underline the importance of collective efforts in solving international problems, and for peaceful settlement of disputes through political and diplomatic means, and in this regard, we reiterate our commitment to the principles of the charter of the United Nations," the declaration added.