Hectic discussions between BRICS leaders in India
October 15, 2016, 3:54 pm

In a flurry of bilateral meetings on Saturday in the coastal Indian state of Goa, BRICS leaders discussed economic and political ties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting ahead of the BRICS Summit that formally begins on Sunday.

The fight against terrorism and the crises in Syria was discussed at the meet, a Kremlin aide said.

“The Russian president and the Chinese president exchanged views on the Syrian issue. Putin informed his Chinese counterpart on local developments,” Dmitry Peskov told journalists.

“[During the meeting] the need for further cooperation to prevent the infiltration of the international terrorism into the territory of Central Asia and through it, was stressed,” Peskov said.

The 8th BRICS summit is taking place at a time of acute global discord.

Rising tensions between Moscow and Washington over the civil war in Syria and US interventions in the South China Sea are spilling over into a increasingly divided United Nations Security Council.

The Chinese President told Putin in India that as permanent members of the UN Security Council, the two countries “must further consolidate our cooperation within multilateral structures”.

“We must address key issues from the position of our joint coordination and cooperation, and hence work towards a more just and rational world order through joint efforts,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Saturday, in a separate meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma, Putin said the creation of the New Development Bank and the currency reserve fund by the BRICS “is the first step towards practical cooperation in a multilateral format”.

“We hope that apart from approving the more general political coordination, it (BRICS) will successfully tackle specific challenges and deal with economic matters,” Putin said.

Both Zuma and Putin referred to the “complicated global situation”.

BRICS have repeatedly said they are opposed to the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad by outside forces.

On Sunday, the Goa communique (the joint BRICS declaration after the summit) is expected to refer to both the Syrian crisis and the violence in Yemen as well as to the broader fight against terrorism.

On Saturday, Indian Prime Minister Modi hosted his BRICS counterparts at an informal dinner. Modi also heald bilateral talks with the Chinese, Russian and South African Presidents.

The leaders summit will begin on Sunday with a restricted meeting of the five BRICS leaders.