This time around, India, at the Brics summit in Xiamen was more active and assertive. Moving beyond economic and trade aspects of Brics, dimensions of this multilateral forum expanded to focus equally on terror and security issues which are crucial for prosperity of nations and for economic activities. As a host, India, in the Brics summit in Goa last year, heeded to the Chinese request of not including Pakistan’s name in the joint statement with regard to its terrorism connect. But thereafter, New Delhi made it clear that for it, terrorism remains a prime concern. And this despite the Chinese move to block the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief, Masood Azhar, in the UN Security Council. India will continue to raise a red flag against terrorism. Incidentally, India is not alone in this fight — almost all countries have joined hands against terrorism, which has now become a global menace. So, even though India, as a generous host decided to consider the Chinese request of not naming and shaming Pakistan in the joint declaration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a barely concealed reference to Pakistan said in Goa that “tragically mothership of terrorism is a country in India’s neighbourhood” even as Chinese President Xi Jinping looked on. “Terror modules around the world are linked to this mothership”, Modi asserted.
The Chinese had this time tried their best to avoid an embarrassment of this sort again when preparations were on for the 9th Brics summit in Xiamen. Chinese spokesperson had made it clear that the Brics summit was not the apt forum for India to raise Pakistan issue with regard to terrorism. Ministry of External Affairs officials, however, kept the suspense, saying that terrorism is a major concern for India and it is difficult to predict what Prime Minister Modi will say in his intervention. While Modi avoided embarrassing his hosts directly by mentioning Pakistan and the terror groups in his intervention, he did flag terror related concerns in the restricted talks before the plenary. Besides, India also managed a major diplomatic victory by getting Pakistan-based and Islamabad-funded terror groups mentioned in the joint declaration. The names of lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish e-Mohammed were mentioned for the first time in the Brics joint declaration, though it is a different matter the same paragraph finds mention in the sixth Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia held in Amritsar. With India becoming more assertive on crucial and sensitive issues like terrorism, and the entire world facing violent activities, there is little China could have done to shield Pakistan. In fact, the Chinese Foreign Ministry finally conceded that Brics countries have shown their concerns to the violent activities raised by terror organisations, mentioned in the joint declaration. India is increasing its role in Brics. Nearly seven Ministers travelled to China to discuss several issues important for Brics, in addition to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s visit whose focus on Brics talks centred around cooperation on counter-terrorism. Apart from terrorism, some other important aspects of Brics cooperation include commitment for industrial cooperation and exploring establishment of Brics Institute of Future networks, enhance joint research, development and innovation in ICT.