BRICS support dialogue between Russia & Ukraine in declaration, stress on humanitarian aid

BRICS countries, on June 23, discussed the Russia-Ukraine conflict and supported peace dialogues between the two conflicting countries, while also stressing the need for humanitarian assistance, said a joint declaration of the 14th Summit of the grouping hosted by China.

The two-day virtual summit attended by the heads of state of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will end on June 24.

The BRICS declaration comes as Ukrainian chief negotiator, David Arakhamiya said on June 18 that Ukraine might resume talks with Russia by end of August after conducting counterattacks. Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had blamed Russia for stalling the talks. 

The joint declaration read, "We commit to respect sovereignty, territorial integrity of all states, stress our commitment to peaceful resolution of differences and disputes,” and reiterated the stand taken at UNSC and UNGA, "We have discussed the situation in Ukraine and recall our national positions as expressed at the appropriate fora, namely the UNSC and UNGA. We support talks between Russia and Ukraine. We've also discussed our concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine.”

Concerns over humanitarian assistance 

The BRICS antions also stressed the need to speed-up humanitarian efforts in Ukraine and expressed their support for the efforts in the direction. 

"We have also discussed our concerns over the humanitarian situation in and around Ukraine and expressed our support to efforts of the UN Secretary-General, UN Agencies and ICRC to provide humanitarian assistance in accordance with the basic principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality established in UN General Assembly resolution 46/182."

The declaration also mentioned the territory of Afghanistan should not be used as a launching pad to attack other countries or for training terrorists, “We strongly support a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan while emphasising respect for its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity.”

PM Modi's address at BRICS 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the BRICS summit on June 23 said the BRICS countries can act in unison and lend a helping hand to the world in the post-COVID recovery. "BRICS members have a similar approach regarding the governance of the global economy. Our mutual cooperation can make a useful contribution to the global post-COVID recovery," said PM Modi in his virtual address.

He went on to highlight the various areas BRICS can work on as a team, which includes an increase in connectivity between BRICS Youth Summits, BRICS Sports, civil society organizations, and think tanks.  

(With ANI inputs)

IMAGE: PTI