Donald Trump shadow on RIC meet: FMs don't mention East Jerusalem

Foreign ministers of Russia, India, and China (RIC) met in Delhi on Monday and agreed to take steps to choke terror funding and prevent terror activities from their respective regions. At the 15th RIC trilateral attended by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj flagged concerns about increasing acts of terrorism by Pakistan-based terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"While discussing terrorism, I put across my view that a significant rise in acts of terrorism by terror organisations like Taliban, Daesh (ISIS), Al-Qaeda, and LeT directly undermine international peace and security and endanger ongoing efforts to strengthen the global economy and ensure sustainable growth and development," Swaraj said.

However, unlike the Brazil-Russia- India-China-South Africa (BRICS) summit in Xiamen in China in September, the RIC joint statement didn't mention Pakistan in particular. "We reaffirm that all acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, irrespective of their motives, committed wherever and by whomsoever," the statement said.

While discussing global issues, including US President Donald Trump's recent announcement to recognise the holy city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the three foreign ministers, while reiterating the need for a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, didn't mention East Jerusalem as the capital of future Palestine state, a conspicuous change from the earlier position of the RIC forum.

The foreign ministers called for greater unity, stronger international partnership and concerted actions by the international community in addressing the menace of terrorism in accordance with international law and the UN Charter, including the principles of sovereign equality of states and non- interference in their internal affairs.

Emphasising the need for a comprehensive approach to combat terrorism, the Fms resolved "to step up cooperation to prevent and counter terrorism and radicalisation, combat the spread of terrorist ideology and propaganda, stop sources of terrorist financing, prevent travelling of and the supply of arms to terrorists, dismantle terrorist infrastructure." They also resolved to enhance cooperation to disrupt recruitment and the flow of foreign terrorists and prevent the misuse of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for terror purposes, the statement said.

Swaraj, Wang and Lavrov also stressed that those committing, organising, inciting or supporting terrorist acts must be held accountable and brought to justice in accordance with the obligations under international law, including the principle of "extradite or prosecute" as well as the applicable domestic legislations. The three countries also agreed to intensify cooperation in multilateral fora including FATF and FATF-style regional bodies (FSRBs) so as to cut the flows of funds, and other financial assets and economic resources to individuals and entities involved in terrorism including those proscribed under the relevant UN sanctions.

Expressing deep concern about the threat of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorist groups, including the use of chemicals and biological agents for terrorist purposes, they said they would cooperate to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by non-state actors, including terrorists. "We need to address the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological terrorism through intensified meaningful work in international fora," they said in the statement and expressed firm determination to explore actively the modalities of elaborating a mandate in this regard.