International meetings to focus on Afghanistan

NEW DELHI:  The Afghanistan situation will come up for discussion at two international fora on Tuesday — the meeting of the BRICS National Security Advisors and during the session at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

“India holds the chair in BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). The next meeting of BRICS Nation Security Advisors (NSAs) will be held on August 24,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said last week. It will be a virtual meeting.

Throwing light on the agenda of the BRICS meeting, Bagchi said it will focus on India’s priorities during its chairship and include counter-terrorism cooperation and international peace. The BRICS meeting will bring NSA Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart on the same stage for the first time since the Taliban took control of Kabul. China has already hinted it will recognise a government run by the Taliban.

The sixth meeting of the BRICS Counter-Terrorism Working Group was held virtually on July 28-29 under the chairship of India. Joint Secretary for counter-terrorism in the MEA, Mahaveer Singhvi, chaired the meeting attended by counter-terrorism officials from BRICS countries.

At the UNHRC, countries will address the serious human rights concerns that Afghanistan is witnessing in the aftermath of the Taliban takeover. The meeting in Geneva is being convened following an official request jointly submitted by the representatives of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The request for the special session has garnered the support of 89 countries.