BRICS 2017: India's diplomatic win, China's stand on terrorism will 'upset Pakistan'

BRICS nations unanimously condemning terrorism likely to have major ramifications on China-Pakistan's relationship

Representational image: Members of Pakistans Frontier Corps patrol the border with Afghanistan outside Torkham (Reuters)

Xiamen: India's big diplomatic win came on Monday with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations unanimously condemning the violence carried out by terrorist groups, including Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad based out of Pakistan.

This declaration is likely to have major ramifications on China-Pakistan's relationship.

"It is beyond my understanding how China agreed to this. I don't think it is good idea," Hu Shisheng, director of the state-run China Institute of Contemporary International Relations told PTI yesterday.

"This will irritate Pakistan. I don't think when the BRICS declaration was made, Pakistan was consulted. In the coming days Chinese diplomats have to explain to Pakistan,” added Shisheng.

"(But) This is too costly to China... Pakistan will be very upset," he said, adding that this could be a victory for India, which "has done a lot of work".

While unveiling the long-awaited Afghan strategy on August 22, US President Donald Trump had hit out at Pakistan for offering safe haven to extremists and `agents of chaos`.

This factor could have played a role in China agreeing to the declaration.

Meanwhile, China skirted around questions on its stand of blocking of JeM chief Masood Azhar's.

Instead, Chinese diplomats said that the concerned terror outfits "are violent in nature" and have been "censured by the UN Security Council".

"On participating in international campaign against terrorism, our position is consistent and firm," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing.

China has repeatedly blocked India's attempts to get the United Nations to censure Masood Azhar, the head of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror network.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to meet on the sidelines of the BRICS summit today. This will be the first meeting between the two leaders after India and China called off their 73-day stand-off at Doklam border.

With PTI inputs