Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged BRICS leaders on Sunday to take a strong united stand against the "mother ship of terrorism" in the South Asian region, in a thinly veiled reference to Pakistan. Modi said a country in India's neighborhood held links to "terror modules" around the world, which the emerging nations club of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa should strongly condemn. "In our region, terrorism poses a grave threat to peace, security and development," Modi told leaders at the BRICS summit in the tourist state of Goa. "Tragically the mother ship of terrorism is a country in India's neighborhood," Modi said without naming Pakistan. "Terror modules around the world are linked to this mother ship. This country shelters not just terrorists. It nurtures a mindset. A mindset that loudly proclaims that terrorism is justified for political gains." "It is a mindset we strongly condemn. And against which we as BRICS need to stand and act together. BRICS must speak in one voice against this threat," he said. The Hindu nationalist leader has been moving to isolate India's archrival and fellow nuclear power following a raid last month on an Indian army base that killed 19 soldiers. New Delhi blamed Pakistan-based militants for the attack, which triggered calls at home for an aggressive response. India said its troops later hit militants across the border in Pakistan, sparking fury from Islamabad which denied that strikes had taken place. Analysts are skeptical of India's chances of securing a joint BRICS condemnation given China's strong relations with Pakistan where it is pursuing a slew of infrastructure projects and Russia's efforts to forge closer defense ties with Islamabad. Chinese President Xi Jinping made no commitments on terrorism during a bilateral meeting with Modi on Saturday ahead of the BRICS summit, although an Indian official said they agreed to work to cooperate on preventing terrorism. Beijing this year blocked India's request to add a Pakistani militant group chief to a UN sanctions blacklist, sparking frustration in Delhi. Meanwhile, the leaders of five of the world's fast-rising powers met in the southwestern Indian state of Goa for their annual summit at a time when their ability to shape the global dialogue on international politics and finance is increasingly being questioned. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, or BRICS, face the tough task of asserting their growing influence as a power group even as they bridge their own trade rivalries to help grow their economies. China's President Xi Jinping warned Sunday that the global economy remained in a precarious condition as leaders of the BRICS group of nations tried to find ways to fire up growth in the troubled bloc. Speaking at a summit in the Indian state of Goa, Xi told his host Narendra Modi and the leaders of Russia, Brazil and South Africa that the club of emerging powers had been undermined by both domestic and international woes. But the leader of the world's second largest economy said the long-term forecast for BRICS members was positive as he called for more confidence-building measures. "The global economy is still going through a treacherous recovery," Xi said in a statement at the summit on India's west coast. "Because of the impact of both internal and external factors, BRICS countries have somewhat slowed down in economic growth and have faced a number of new challenges in development." "Promoting economic and commercial engagement has been a foundational impulse in creation of BRICS," he said. Modi, who came to power two years ago, said his government's policy of opening up the Indian economy had achieved results and offered valuable lessons. — Agencies
