Pak media mum on BRICS labelling home grown JeM and LeT 'threat'

Delegates pose for group photo before Emerging Market and Developing Countries meeting during the BRICS 2017 Summit, in Xiamen (Reuters)

New Delhi: On September 4, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) leaders unanimously condemned terror outfits including those based out of Pakistan, signalling a massive diplomatic win for India.

Twenty-four-hours since, media in Pakistan is yet to react to this big development.

A quick look at top Pakistani newspapers shows no bureau or reporter copies have been published on the fallout of BRICS naming home-grown terrorist groups Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and calling them "a threat to regional peace".

Pakistan's news web portals are, however, carrying reports filed by international news agencies such as Reuters on the important change in the stance of the five-nation bloc whose leaders met in China. Online editions of Dawn and The Express Tribune are carrying the news on the top of the homepage.

Few even carried articles on India-China bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jingping.

Both Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba are based in Pakistan. India has long been demanding action against the terror groups.

No reaction has come from the terror groups too so far against the BRICS declaration.

Instead of BRICS development, online editions of most Pakistani media outlets devoted elaborate articles and editorials on how US President Donald Trump's recent declaration could effect Pak-US ties, especially their economy.

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

Sino-Pak ties under threat?

India has long been a dominant theme between Pakistan, especially after the 1962 India-China war.

China has also supported Pakistan on Kashmir issue. In August 2017, reports of China helping Pakistan build dams on Indus River in Pak-Occupied-Kashmir emerged.

China has previously acknowledged to have a role in the development of 6 nuclear reactors in Pakistan.

Naturally, the BRICS declaration on terror will hold significant ramifications on ties between the two countries.

"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, was quoted as telling news agency PTI.

In a press meet at BRICS summit, China skirted around questions on its stand of blocking of JeM chief Masood Azhar's. Instead, saying that terror outfits "are violent in nature" and have been "censured by the UN Security Council".

With $62 billion China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on the cards, it remains to be seen, how the two nations will adapt to this recent BRICS declaration.