A big step forward

The Xiamen Declaration is a triumph for Indian diplomacy

The Xiamen Declaration issued by the leaders of the five BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — at the summit meeting in that provincial Chinese city represents a significant step forward for Indian diplomacy. The declaration, in words similar to those at the sixth Heart of Asia Conference in Amritsar last year, explicitly called out several Pakistan-based terror organisations and expressed concern on the security situation in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region. It also referred to violence caused by the Taliban, ISIL/Daesh, and Al-Qaida and its affiliates, including Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the Haqqani