BRICS summit: Modi targets ‘mother-ship of terrorism’ Pakistan, jihadi mindset

BENAULIM (GOA): Putting terrorism on top of the BRICS agenda, India’s Prime Minister Narendra launched a blistering attack on the “mother-ship of terrorism,” an all-too obvious reference to Pakistan, and exhorted emerging powers and the region to rally together in combating this scourge.   “The most serious direct threat to our eco prosperity is terrorism; Tragically, its mother-ship is a country in India’s neighbourhood,” Mr Modi told leaders of other BRICS countries at the plenary of the 8^thsummit of emerging powers at the majestic Dome of the Taj Exotica hotel in Benaulim. The Indian leader went beyond rhetoric and drew the attention of the world to the insidious jihadi mindset that propagates violence for violence. “This country shelters not just terrorists. It nurtures a mindset. A mindset that loudly proclaims that terrorism is justified for political gains,” he told the leaders of BRICS countries here on October 16. China’s President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazil’s President Michel Temer, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma have backed Mr Modi’s call for strong anti-terror BRICs solidarity. Mr Modi also called on BRICS countries to work together for an early adoption of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) and step up practical cooperation against terrorism. The recent terror attack at the Army Camp in Uri in north Kashmir, executed and choreographed by Pakistani militants, have lent a touch of urgency for India to rally the world and the region together to isolate Pakistan, which Mr Modi had earlier described as the global epicentre of terrorism. Mr Modi has been relentlessly highlighting Pakistan-origin cross-border terror, without naming that country. At the G20 summit in Hangzhou and East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Mr Modi had asked the world to sanction the sponsor of terrorism. Terrorism dominated discussions Mr Modi with the leaders of Russia and China in Goa on October 15. Intensifying counter-terror cooperation and isolating Pakistan will also top the agenda of the seven-nation BIMSTEC summit which has brought the leaders of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.