Alwaght- BRICS leaders meeting in China have condemned military intervention and sanctions that have led to conflicts around the world.
"We condemn military interventions and unilateral economic sanctions, and the arbitrary use of unilateral measures that violate international legality and established norms of international relations," said the joint statement issued by leaders of five world emerging economies after their meeting in the Chinese city of Xiamen.
In the document they stressed that "no country can strengthen its security to the detriment of that of other nations," adding that there can only be lasting peace in the world when there is a different approach, "based on mutual trust, justice and cooperation," with the aim of "eradicating the causes of political, economic and social conflicts."
The statement was issued by the heads of state Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia, Narendra Modi of India, Michel Temer of Brazil and Jacob Zuma of South Africa following their Ninth BRICS Summit.
BRICS is the acronym for an association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Originally the first four were grouped as "BRIC" (or "the BRICs"), before the induction of South Africa in 2010.
Although the group criticized the Democratic People's Republic of Korea for its hydrogen bomb test on Sunday, it called for direct dialogue between all parties involved and peaceful means as a method to resolve it, stating, "We express deep concern about the current tension and the prolonged nuclear conflict in the Korean peninsula."
Specifically, the host of the 9th Summit of emerging countries called for the creation of sufficient dialogue conditions to resolve the conflicts in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan and Palestine.
The group also spoke out against terrorism as well as any form of support for it, whether it be financial, military, or neglect of persecution of criminals, stating that those responsible for the crimes must be penalized, adding that nations ought to adopt a comprehensive and an offensive approach to combat terrorism.
Additionally, their statement detailed the importance of supporting cultural exchanges among other initiatives which they plan to undertake. Among these would be green energy development, poverty eradication, and a program called the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development they hope to implement to balance and positively affect economies, societies, and the environment.
The group announced that Beijing will launch a program of about US$76 million to promote the economic and technical cooperation of the five nations.
