BRICS Discusses Afghan Issue... China Less Trustworthy Than India

China and Russia Share Views on Afghan Issue... India Shares with the US
China Raises Concerns over Differences with India on Afghan Support Issue

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] At the BRICS summit, an economic cooperation forum of five emerging economies, the 'BRICS Anti-Terrorism Plan' was adopted. However, Chinese media pointed out that India is unlikely to play a central role in the Afghan issue and that India's movements should be closely watched. There is a possibility that the Afghan issue could become another point of contention between China and India.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Chinese state media such as Xinhua News Agency on the 10th, President Xi Jinping proposed five initiatives at the '13th BRICS Summit' held via video conference the previous day, including health and vaccines, economy, security, and strengthening people-to-people exchanges.

President Xi began by saying that BRICS member countries are in the same boat, emphasizing the need to exchange information on infectious diseases and share experiences, highlighting international cooperation on vaccines. He also announced an additional provision of 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX for developing countries.

President Xi further stated that BRICS countries should cooperate in trade, investment, technology, green and low-carbon sectors, promoting joint development among BRICS members to contribute to world peace. He also emphasized the need to expand people-to-people exchanges among BRICS countries and expressed hope that BRICS members would achieve good results at next year's Beijing Winter Olympics.

The most notable proposal from President Xi's remarks was strengthening political and security cooperation. He stressed that "BRICS countries must uphold fairness and justice" and enhance coordination capabilities on major international and regional issues. To this end, he called for increasing foreign ministers' and senior security-related meetings among BRICS members. He added that the BRICS Anti-Terrorism Plan was adopted at this meeting, indicating discussions on countermeasures against the terrorist threats posed by armed groups emerging after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

In this regard, the state-run Global Times expressed concern that among the five BRICS member countries, three (China, Russia, and India) share borders with Afghanistan, raising security issues, but unlike Russia, India has different interests from China regarding the Afghan issue.

The media quoted Indian press reporting on Russian President Vladimir Putin's remarks. President Putin said at the meeting, "The U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan has resulted in a new crisis," adding, "Global security faces serious challenges, and BRICS members must pay special attention to the Afghan issue."

The media also reported that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the meeting, "Afghanistan should not threaten neighboring countries."

Professor Lin Minwang of Fudan University's Institute of International Studies diagnosed, "China and Russia share the same stance on the Afghan issue, but India shares the U.S. position on Afghanistan," adding, "On the surface, India expresses the view that Afghanistan should not become a base for drug trafficking and terrorist groups, but because the criteria for identifying terrorist organizations differ, it is not easy to lead anti-terror cooperation with India."

In fact, although the Taliban announced the formation of an interim cabinet and plans to invite senior officials from China, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, India was excluded from the invitation list.

The Global Times analyzed that India is unlikely to play a central role in humanitarian aid issues for Afghanistan.

Within China, there are concerns that different tones may emerge between China and India regarding Afghan reconstruction projects and humanitarian aid issues.