Whole humanity must stand as one against terror: Modi at BRICS meet

mangaloretoday.com

Turkey, Nov 15:  The economic agenda of the G20 meet -- the summit of leaders from 20 top economies of the world - was completely overshadowed by terror today following a series of terror attacks in Paris and Turkey over the weekend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is attending the meet, set the tone with his comments on terror at the BRICS Summit, which is being held on the sidelines of G20.

 

Here are the latest developments:

"We strongly condemn the Paris attack.  Beirut is also a reminder of terrorism. Entire humanity must stand as one against terrorism," PM Modi said in his address at Brics meeting.

"The Paris attack is an attack on the civilised world. We stand in solidarity with France," US President Barack Obama said a joint news conference with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the summit.

The focus of the Summit, centred on economic and developmental issues, will now be on the ongoing conflict in nearby Syria and the worst migrant crisis since World War II as well. Turkey has been pressing for a resolution of the migrant crisis. Today, US said it backs Turkey’s stand and hopes to reduce the flow of migrants.

This morning, hours before the meet started, a jihadist suspected to belong to the Islamic State blew himself up in southern Turkey, 800 km from Antalaya, injuring four policemen. Yesterday, Turkish soldiers kill four suspected IS militants near G20 summit site.

Security has been strengthened for the G20 meet, with around 13,000 policemen being been deployed at the venue.

French President Francois Hollande has cancelled his visit to the meeting in the wake of the Paris attack, in which 129 people died on Friday. The G20 leaders have said they stand in solidarity with France. No music to be played at any of the events during the meet.

PM Modi has repeatedly underscored the importance of having the United Nations arrive at a common definition of terror. On Friday, speaking at the British Parliament, he said, "We must support a common definition of terrorism in the UN." He spoke on it even on the floor of the UN during his address to the General Assembly in September.

At the BRICS meeting in the US in September, the leaders had discussed the importance of cracking down on terror and India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council.

Along with terror, PM Modi is also likely to raise issues related to climate change and global cooperation to unearth black money at G20.

The G20 countries account for 85 per cent of the world economy, 75 per cent of the global trade and two-third of the world’s population.