Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday said the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – need to strengthen political trust and security cooperation and help stabilise international relations at a time of global turbulence.
In an address ahead of the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting, Xi said countries should not seek their own security at the expense of the security of other countries because that would create new tension and risks.
Xi appeared to be referring to the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine – without directly saying so – which Beijing has refused to call an invasion.
China has instead blamed the conflict on the aggressive policies of the US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) in eastern Europe.
“President Xi stressed that both history and reality tell us that seeking one’s own security at the expense of others’ will only create new tensions and risks,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement quoting Xi.
“BRICS countries need to strengthen political mutual trust and security cooperation, maintain close communication and coordination on major international and regional issues, accommodate each other’s core interests and major concerns, respect each other’s sovereignty, security and development interests.
“The five countries should “oppose hegemonism and power politics, reject Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, and work together to build a global community of security for all.
“The impacts of major changes and a pandemic unseen in a century are being combined, and factors of instability, uncertainty and insecurity are increasing in the international situation,” Xi said.
The meeting of foreign ministers from the five countries, hosted by China via video link, is taking place against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the dragging Covid-19 pandemic.
It is the first time that Indian external affairs minister S Jaishankar, his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, Russia’s Sergei Lavrov, Brazil’s Carlos Alberto França, and South Africa’s minister for international relations and cooperation Naledi Pandor are meeting within the BRICS mechanism after Moscow invaded Kyiv in February.
The foreign ministers’ meeting is being held in the run up to the BRICS leaders’ summit to be held in late June.
“As a positive, inspiring and constructive force in the international community, the BRICS countries need to take real action to promote peace and development, uphold fairness and justice, and advocate democracy and freedom, so as to inject stability and positive energy into international relations in a period of turbulence and transformation,” Xi was quoted as saying in the foreign ministry statement.
The Chinese President said the five BRICS countries need to engage in dialogue and exchanges with more emerging markets and developing countries to increase mutual understanding and trust, tighten the bond of cooperation, and deepen the convergence of interests, so as to make the pie of cooperation bigger
