“BRICS” Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa –, the five-nation grouping has adopted a "counter-terrorism action plan" and "we have to ensure that BRICS is more productive in next fifteen years," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address to the virtual summit of the group today.

In his address, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised the issue of Afghanistan, saying it should not become a "threat to its neighboring countries, a source of drug trafficking and terrorism".“BRICS has made many achievements in the last 15 years and Today we are an influential voice for the emerging economies of the world. This platform has also been useful for focusing on the priorities of developing countries. The summit comes at a time when the Taliban have declared a new interim government in Afghanistan and the situation in the country is being discussed on all global platforms.

Thanking the partners for full cooperation during India's presidency, PM Modi said BRICS has also adopted a counter-terrorism action plan.The citizens of Afghanistan have "fought for decades and deserve to exercise their rights of defining of what their state will look like on their own," he added, days after the new interim government named by Taliban.

Vladimir Putin said the withdrawal of the US and its allies from Afghanistan has led to new crisis and it is "still unclear how it will affect regional and global security". He added that Global security has faced serious challenges and system of strategic stability has gone all down. Our countries have paid special attention to this issue (Afghanistan). Russia and its BRICS partners have consistently spoken for establishing for its long-awaited peace and stability on Afghan soil."

This is the second time PM Modi is chairing the BRICS summit. The Indian Chairship of BRICS this year coincides with the 15th anniversary of the five-nation group.

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