Terrorism's epicentre close to India, but footprint global: Jaishankar

In a veiled attack on Pakistan, Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said on Saturday that the epicentre of terrorism may be close to India, but had its footprints across the world.

Addressing a press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing India-Russia bilateral summit, Jaishankar also said that no country in the world today could ignore terrorism.

"Terrorism is not just an issue for India. The epicentre may be close to India, but the activities of the epicenter extend throughout the world. I do not think there is any country in the world that is agnostic to terrorism," Jaishankar said, while responding to a question regarding commonalities shared by BRICS countries.

"BRICS was envisaged as a global grouping. Each of the members was located in a different part of the world. People sometimes say they are very different countries, but they are united in their approach to global issues," he said.

Noting that "in the initial years, the global issues were primarily developmental issues, economic issues, issues about the nature of the international system", he said that BRICS "has never shied away from political issues".

--IANS

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