In a lengthy joint statement issued during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China, Beijing and Moscow said they support Afghanistan’s efforts to eliminate terrorism and stressed that Afghan territory should not be used to threaten neighboring countries or the wider region.

The statement, released following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin in Beijing, said both countries would deepen bilateral and multilateral cooperation on Afghan affairs and continue backing regional diplomatic platforms focused on Afghanistan.

China and Russia highlighted mechanisms as important channels for pursuing a political settlement and supporting long-term stability in Afghanistan.

“Both sides attach great importance to and support the positive and constructive role played by regional platforms such as the Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of Afghanistan’s Neighboring Countries, the Moscow Format consultations on the Afghan issue, the China-Russia-Pakistan-Iran Quad mechanism, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the political settlement of the Afghan issue,” the statement read.

The two sides also warned that terrorism continues to threaten Afghanistan and surrounding countries, urging regional states and the international community to expand counter-terrorism cooperation with Kabul.

According to the joint statement, both governments support Afghanistan in achieving “lasting peace and stability” and emphasized the importance of regional coordination in addressing security challenges.

The Afghanistan section formed part of a broader China-Russia declaration covering regional security, international conflicts, economic cooperation and opposition to unilateral sanctions.

The statement also addressed developments in the Middle East, Ukraine and the Korean Peninsula, while reaffirming support for multilateral organizations including BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

According to the statement, both sides agreed that “the US-Israel military strikes against Iran violated international law and the basic norms of international relations, severely undermining stability in the Middle East.

They emphasized that the parties involved in the conflict should return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible to prevent the spread and spillover of the conflict.

They also called on the international community to uphold an objective and impartial stance, promote de-escalation, and jointly safeguard the basic norms of international relations.

In addition, both sides advocated for a lasting ce asefire in Gaza, believing it would contribute to long-term stability and provide unimpeded humanitarian access for all who need it.

“They affirmed that the Palestinian question should be resolved comprehensively, justly, and lastingly based on universally recognized international law and centered on the two-state solution, leading to the establishment of an independent, prosperous, and territorially complete Palestinian state that can coexist peacefully and securely with Israel,” the statement read.

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BRICS Plus is an expansion of a geopolitical bloc originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – and seen by members as a counterweight to U.S. and Western economic dominance – to include six other countries.

Though South Africa routinely carries out naval exercises with China and Russia, it comes at a time of heightened tensions between U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration and several BRICS Plus countries, including China, Iran, South Africa and Brazil.

The expanded BRICS group also includes Egypt, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

Chinese military officials leading the opening ceremony said Brazil, Egypt and Ethiopia participated as observers.

“Exercise WILL FOR PEACE 2026 brings together navies from BRICS Plus countries for … joint maritime safety operations (and) interoperability drills,” South Africa’s military said in a statement.

Lieutenant Colonel Mpho Mathebula, acting spokesperson for joint operations, told Reuters all members had been invited.

Trump has accused the BRICS nations of pursuing “anti-American” polities, and last January threatened all members with a 10% trade tariff on top of duties he was already imposing on countries across the world.

The pro-Western Democratic Alliance, the second largest party in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s coalition, said the exercises “contradict our stated neutrality” and that BRICS had “rendered South Africa a pawn in the power games being waged by rogue states on the international stage”.

Mathebula rejected that criticism.

“This is not a political arrangement … there is no hostility (towards the U.S.),” Mathebula told Reuters, pointing out that South Africa has also periodically carried out exercises with the U.S. Navy.

“It’s a naval exercise. The intention is for us to improve our capabilities and share information,” she said.

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Aside from Russian President Vladimir Putin, leaders from Central Asia, the Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia have been invited to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, to be held in the northern port city of Tianjin from August 31 to September 1.

The summit will feature Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to China in more than seven years as the two neighbours work on further defusing tensions roiled by deadly border clashes in 2020.

Modi last shared the same stage with Xi and Putin at last year’s BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, even as Western leaders turned their backs on the Russian leader amid the war in Ukraine. Russian embassy officials in New Delhi last week said Moscow hopes trilateral talks with China and India will take place soon.

“Xi will want to use the summit as an opportunity to showcase what a post-American-led international order begins to look like and that all White House efforts since January to counter China, Iran, Russia, and now India have not had the intended effect,” said Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of The China-Global South Project, a research agency.

“Just look at how much BRICS has rattled (U.S. President) Donald Trump, which is precisely what these groups are designed to do.”

This year’s summit will be the largest since the SCO was founded in 2001, a Chinese foreign ministry official said last week, calling the bloc an “important force in building a new type of international relations”.

The security-focused bloc, which began as a group of six Eurasian nations, has expanded to 10 permanent members and 16 dialogue and observer countries in recent years. Its remit has also enlarged from security and counter-terrorism to economic and military cooperation, read the report.

Analysts say expansion is high on the agenda for many countries attending, but agree the bloc has not delivered substantial cooperation outcomes over the years and that China values the optics of Global South solidarity against the United States at a time of erratic policymaking and geopolitical flux.

“What is the precise vision that the SCO represents and its practical implementation are rather fuzzy. It is a platform that has increasing convening power, which helps in narrative projection,” said Manoj Kewalramani, chairperson of the Indo-Pacific Research Programme at the Takshashila Institution thinktank in Bangalore.

“But the SCO’s effectiveness in addressing substantial security issues remains very limited.”

Frictions remain between core members India and Pakistan. The June SCO defence ministers’ meeting was unable to adopt a joint statement after India raised objections, saying it omitted reference to the deadly April 22 attack on Hindu tourists in Indian Kashmir which led to the worst fighting in decades between India and Pakistan.

New Delhi also refused to join the SCO’s condemnation of Israeli attacks on Iran, a member state, earlier in June, Reuters reported.

But the recent detente between India and China after five years of heightened border frictions, as well as renewed tariff pressure on New Delhi from the Trump administration, are driving expectations for a positive meeting between Xi and Modi on the sidelines of the summit.

“It’s likely (New Delhi) will swallow their pride and put this year’s SCO problems behind them in a bid to maintain momentum in the détente with China, which is a key Modi priority right now,” said Olander.

India’s priorities at the SCO include trade, connectivity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, said Indian foreign ministry official Tanmaya Lal. Modi is also likely to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

Analysts expect India and China to announce further incremental border measures such as troop withdrawals, the easing of trade and visa restrictions, cooperation in new fields including climate, and broader government and people-to-people engagement.

Despite the lack of substantive policy announcements expected at the summit, experts warn that the bloc’s appeal to Global South countries should not be underestimated.

“This summit is about optics, really powerful optics,” added Olander.

Modi is expected to depart from China after the summit, while Putin will stay on for a World War Two military parade in Beijing later in the week for an unusually long spell outside of Russia.

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President Vladimir Putin’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Beijing on Sunday. Lavrov is due to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) foreign ministers in China, Reuters reported.

“The parties also discussed relations with the United States and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.

“The importance of strengthening close coordination between the two countries in the international arena, including in the United Nations and its Security Council, the SCO, BRICS, the G20 and APEC, was emphasized,” the ministry said.

The close contact between the two countries was to “promote the development and revitalisation of each other, and jointly respond to the challenges brought about by a turbulent and changing world,” China’s Foreign Ministry said.

Both sides also exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula and the Iranian nuclear issue, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022 when Putin visited Beijing, days before he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine. Putin has sometimes described China as an “ally”, read the report.

The U.S. casts China as its biggest competitor and Russia as its biggest nation-state threat.

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“We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs,” Trump said on Truth Social in a statement nearly identical to one he posted on Nov. 30, Reuters reported.

At the time, Russia said that any U.S. attempt to compel countries to use the dollar would backfire.

The BRICS grouping includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa and a few other countries that joined in the past couple of year. The grouping does not have a common currency, but long-running discussions on the subject have gained some momentum after the West imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.

“There is no chance that BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, or anywhere else, and any Country that tries should say hello to Tariffs, and goodbye to America!,” he said.

Trump posted his warning to the BRICS as Canada and Mexico await for his decision to follow through on a pledge to impose 25% tariffs on the United States’ North American trading partner from Feb. 1.

Trump wants to use tariffs as a tool to get Mexico and Canada to help stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States, particularly the deadly opioid fentanyl, and also migrants crossing illegally into the U.S.

Dollar dominance — the outsized role of the U.S. dollar in the world economy — has strengthened of late, thanks to the robust U.S. economy, tighter monetary policy and heightened geopolitical risks, even as economic fragmentation has boosted a push by BRICS countries to shift away from the dollar into other currencies.

A study by the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center last year showed that the U.S. dollar remains the world’s primary reserve currency, and neither the euro nor the so-called BRICS countries have been able to reduce global reliance on the dollar.

The acronym BRIC, which did not initially include South Africa, was coined in 2001 by then Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill in a research paper that underlined the growth potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The bloc was founded as an informal club in 2009 to provide a platform for its members to challenge a world order dominated by the United States and its Western allies. South Africa was the first beneficiary of an expansion of the bloc in 2010 when the grouping became known as BRICS.

The group added Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates in 2023, and Indonesia became member earlier this month.

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In a statement released by Karzai’s office, the former president conveyed his appreciation for Russia’s role within the framework of the “Moscow Format” and BRICS meetings.

Karzai noted that the BRICS declaration, which advocates for an independent, united, and peaceful Afghanistan, was especially praiseworthy for its emphasis on restoring the fundamental rights of Afghans.

“The BRICS statement, which supports an independent, united, and peaceful Afghanistan, and underscores the restoration of fundamental Afghan rights, is commendable,” Karzai said.

He stressed that the focus on restoring rights for all Afghans, as emphasized by BRICS leaders, including women, girls, and ethnic groups, was a critical and welcome stance.

Karzai also reiterated that achieving long-term peace and stability requires “national understanding” among all parties in Afghanistan.

During their 16th summit, held on October 24 in Kazan, Russia, and BRICS leaders, called for securing the basic rights of Afghan citizens.

They urged the Islamic Emirate to reopen schools and universities for girls and advocated for a peaceful resolution to the ongoing situation in Afghanistan.

The summit in Kazan brought together representatives from 36 countries and six international organizations.

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According to a joint statement issued by the BRICS nations, more “visible and tangible actions” should be taken by the Islamic Emirate in Afghanistan to ensure that the country’s soil is not used by terrorists.

The member nations stated that they support an Afghanistan free from “terrorist, independent and united” groups, and the Islamic Emirate is asked to take immediate and concrete measures in this regard.

These countries also pointed to the effective role of regional meetings with the participation of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries and welcomed the efforts of these countries to facilitate the process of resolving the crisis in the country.

BRICS member countries said they believe that the participation of neighboring countries in the process of solving the Afghan crisis can help stabilize security and stability in the region.

The three-day meeting of the BRICS organization took place this week in Kazan, Russia. 

A number of country leaders, including presidents of China, India, Russia, Turkey, South Africa, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia attended.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was also present. 

The summit wraps up on Thursday. 

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Speaking to Russia’s TASS news agency, Azizi said: “We have actually composed a letter [requesting participation in the BRICS Summit in Kazan] and sent it, now it is under consideration by BRICS officials.

“Respectively, when we get a reply from BRICS, when it makes a certain decision, we will make our certain decision as well. Perhaps we will participate [in the BRICS Summit] this time or next time,” he said.

He went on to state that Afghanistan is interested in “participating as an observer”.

Earlier this month the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said the invitation of guests to the summit is decided by consensus of the BRICS members.

He told reporters that the unrecognized status of the Islamic Emirate is a problem that needs to be taken into account when deciding on its participation.

In September, the Islamic Emirate formally asked to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan.

BRICS Summit Underway

This year’s summit officially opened on Tuesday and will run from October 22 to 24.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting the event in Russia’s southwestern city of Kazan.

The three-day conclave will be the largest gathering of world leaders in Russia in decades and will be held at a time when the Kremlin is locked in a war on Western-backed Ukraine.

BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

The group started in 2006, and Brazil, Russia, India and China convened for the first BRIC summit in 2009. South Africa joined a year later.

The aim of the alliance is to challenge the economic and political monopoly of the West. The group sets priorities and has discussions once every year during the summit, which members take turns hosting.

Last year, BRICS extended invitations to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia has yet to formally join, but the others have.

Leaders of BRICS member countries – including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa – are attending the summit.

UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have also all arrived.

Leaders of several other countries that have shown an interest in deepening ties with BRICS are also participating, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva canceled his trip to Russia after suffering a head injury in a fall at home on October 19. Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira will now represent the country at the summit.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also attending – and is expected to meet Putin on Thursday.

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The two-day summit, which got underway on Tuesday will bring together presidents of Russia, China, India, Brazil, Egypt and Iran along with other leaders.

So far the IEA has not commented on its absence but in May this year, an Islamic Emirate spokesman confirmed they had asked to attend the next meeting.

He said at the time, Afghanistan had good economic relations and trade exchanges with BRICS countries and hoped to participate.

However, Zamir Kabulov, Russia’s special representative for Afghanistan affairs, said earlier this month that an invitation to the meeting would not only be dependent on Russia but also on the other member countries.

Although the caretaker government of Afghanistan has not yet been officially recognized by any country, it has good relations with the founding countries of BRICS, including China and Russia.

BRICS, which is an economic organization, was established in 2009 at the initiative of Russia. Brazil, Russia, India and China were its first members, while South Africa joined a year later.
More recently, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Ethiopia also joined.

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The news came on the eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia for an Oct. 22-24 summit of the BRICS regional grouping, during which he could hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian officials said.

Relations between the world’s two most populous nations – both nuclear powers – have been strained since clashes between their troops on the largely un-demarcated frontier in the western Himalayas left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead in 2020, Reuters reported.

The two sides had since stopped patrolling several points along the border in the Ladakh region to avoid new confrontations, while moving tens of thousands of new troops and military equipment closer to the freezing highlands.

“We reached an agreement on patrolling, and with that we have gone back to where the situation was in 2020 and we can say … the disengagement process with China has been completed,” Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said at a NDTV media conclave.

The “understanding was reached only today,” he said, adding: “We always said that if you disturb the peace and tranquility how can the rest of the relationship go forward?”

To avoid clashes, the two militaries will patrol contested points along the border according to an agreed schedule, a senior Indian military officer aware of the details told Reuters.

Both sides will monitor the area in Ladakh to ensure that there are no violations, the officer added.

Authorities in Beijing offered no immediate response to India’s remarks.

Officials in New Delhi said the pact clears the path for a likely bilateral meeting between Modi and Xi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, which will be their first since 2020.

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Rudenko told reporters that the invitation of guests to the summit is decided by consensus of the BRICS members, TASS news agency reported.

He said that the unrecognized status of the Islamic Emirate is a problem that will be taken into account when deciding on its participation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kabul has formally asked to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan.

The meeting is scheduled to begin on October 22.

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In a written request, the ministry asked Moscow to allow the economic deputy prime minister of the Islamic Emirate, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, to attend the summit.

In 2001, the Goldman Sachs Investment Institute proposed a new alliance to forecast future economic trends.

At its 61st session of the UN General Assembly, in 2006, the foreign ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China started preliminary talks.

They called themselves BRIC and their first meeting was held on June 16, 2009 in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

When South Africa joined in 2010, the name of the alliance was changed to BRICS.

BRICS was designed to bring together the world’s most important developing countries to challenge the political and economic power of the wealthier countries of North America and Western Europe.

This coalition has seen significant expansion in recent years and now includes Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.

Before this, BRICS leaders (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) announced that Afghanistan should not threaten countries or become a training center for terrorists. Türkiye has also announced its readiness to join this economic alliance.

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In an interview with Newsweek during the NATO summit in Washington, Erdogan said Israel’s “brutal murder” of civilians, its strikes on hospitals, aid centres and elsewhere constituted war crimes.

“The U.S. administration, however, disregards these violations and provides Israel with the most support. They do so at the expense of being complicit in these violations,” Erdogan was quoted as saying.

“At this juncture, who will impose what kind of sanction against Israel for violating international law? That is the real question and no one is answering that,” he said.

Israeli consistently rejects charges that it has committed war crimes in its battle against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. It denies deliberately targeting civilians, read the report.

More than 38,000 Palestinians, the majority of them civilians, have been killed since the war broke out on Oct. 7, according to Gaza medical authorities. About 1,200 Israelis were killed in the cross-border Hamas raid that triggered the war.

NATO member Turkey has denounced Israel’s assault on Gaza, halted trade with it, and voiced support for Hamas. It has repeatedly criticised Western countries for backing Israel and called for Israel to be punished by international courts, Reuters reported.

Asked about Turkey’s cordial ties with Russia and China, and Ankara’s recent contacts with the BRICS group and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Erdogan said Turkey carried out its diplomacy with a “win-win” approach and therefore could not rule out engaging with non-Western entities.

“We are an unwavering NATO ally. However, we do not believe that this impedes our ability to establish positive relationships with nations such as China and Russia,” Erdogan told Newsweek.

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Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister had said in August the kingdom would study the details before the proposed Jan. 1 joining date and take “the appropriate decision,” Reuters reported.

Prince Faisal bin Farhan had said the BRICS group was “a beneficial and important channel” to strengthen economic cooperation.

The BRICs bloc previously included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, but is set to double with Saudi Arabia joining the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, and Ethiopia as new members.

Saudi Arabia’s entry comes amid geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, and the expansion of China’s influence within the kingdom.

Despite continued strong ties with the U.S., Saudi Arabia has increasingly pursued its own path out of concern that Washington is less committed to the Gulf’s security than in the past.

China, Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil customer, has led calls for the BRICs to expand to become a counterweight to the West.

The expansion could amplify the group’s declared ambition to become a champion of the Global South, although Argentina signalled in November it would not take up an invitation to join.

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