A week ahead of the BRICS leaders’ virtual meeting on June 24, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval on Wednesday participated in a virtual meeting of NSAs of BRICS countries, hosted by Chinese NSA Yang Jiechi.
Today’s meeting, incidentally, took place two years to the day of the Galwan incident in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed in clashes with Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh. Beijing has claimed four Chinese soldiers were killed in the clashes; Indian assessment is that the number is higher.
While there was no official readout from the Indian side on the BRICS NSAs’ meeting, Chinese Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “The Meeting of BRICS National Security Advisers and High Representatives on National Security is an important platform for BRICS countries to enhance political and security cooperation.”
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Ahead of the meeting, Wang said, “At the upcoming meeting, national security advisers and high representatives on national security of the five BRICS countries will have an in-depth exchange of views, coordinate positions and build consensus on a range of issues including multilateralism and global governance, new threats and challenges to national security, and governance in new domains.”
“With profound changes in the international landscape interwoven with a pandemic unseen in a century, our world has entered a new phase of turbulence and transformation. As the current BRICS chair, China looks forward to working with fellow BRICS members to achieve positive results through this meeting, further consolidate political mutual trust, deepen political and security cooperation, uphold the five countries’ security and development interests, and contribute to world peace and stability,” the Chinese spokesperson said.