China Asks BRICS States to 'Inject Stability Into a Turbulent World', Follow 'Trend of the Times'

The top security officials of the BRICS nations have agreed to strengthen security and political cooperation among the five governments. The meeting took place days before China, the current chair of the BRICS, is scheduled to host an online leaders’ summit among the five countries on 24 June.

A top Chinese official has asked the governments of Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa to work towards injecting “more stability into a turbulent world”, while addressing the 12th Meeting of BRICS National Security Advisers and High Representatives on National Security.

An official release by China’s Ministry of National Defence on Thursday said that senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi, the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, further asked his BRICS counterparts to “follow the trend of the times”.

“The grouping [BRICS] was born in the historical tide of the collective rise of emerging markets and developing countries and represents the direction of the evolution and adjustment of the world pattern and international order,” Yang said at the online meeting.

The meeting of the BRICS security officials was attended by Brazil's Minister of Institutional Security Augusto Heleno, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval as well as South Africa's Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele.

Yang, the chair of the meeting, further called for more coordination and solidarity among BRICS grouping in addressing “traditional” and “non-traditional” security threats in order to achieve "common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security".

The Chinese official further stated that the Global Security Initiative (GSI) unveiled by President Xi Jinping in April has provided the world with an “important guideline for building a world of lasting peace and universal security”.

The GSI has “opposed dividing” the Asia-Pacific region with the Indo-Pacific Strategy, a US-led initiative that has enshrined the role of groupings such as the Quad (comprising Australia, Japan, India and the US) and AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom and the US). India is a member of the Quad.

In a telephone conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, Moscow also expressed its support for the GSI.

Both the leaders also agreed on promoting “solidarity and cooperation” among developing economies and backed efforts to push the world order towards a “more just and reasonable direction”.

India Calls For Bolstering Counter-Terror Cooperation Among BRICS Nations

The Indian NSA (Ajit Doval) said at the BRICS meeting that there was a need to strengthen cooperation in counter-terrorism among the BRICS nations and that it must happen “without any reservations", as per Indian officials cited by Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency.

This refers to New Delhi’s concerns over the alleged role of Pakistan in supporting cross-border terrorism against India. Beijing and Islamabad, on the other hand, enjoy strong security and political ties in what both say is an “iron-clad” relationship.

Doval also reportedly called for “strengthening political and security cooperation” with other BRICS states at the meeting.

He also stressed upon the “importance of reforming the multilateral system in order to address global issues with credibility, equity and accountability”, in line with the BRICS mission to give a stronger say to the emerging economies in the Western-dominated global order.

The BRICS meeting took place on the second anniversary of deadly clashes between Chinese and Indian troops at Galwan Valley in the eastern Ladakh region, which is the site of a military standoff between the two Asian powerhouses.

The Galwan Valley clashes resulted in the death of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers, as per officials from both the nations.

The border standoff, which started in May 2020, remains unresolved, in spite of military commanders and officials from both the nations having held multiple rounds of dialogue to de-escalate the situation and disengage the troops.

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during the latter's visit to New Delhi in February that it can’t be “business as usual” between the two nations till the border standoff is fully resolved.

Wang, on the other hand, has urged New Delhi to place the border issue at an “appropriate level” in the overall ties.