Why terror coverage irked China at Brics

The headlines in Indian media on the issue of terror during the Brics summit in Goa appear to have unnerved China. Indian diplomats were surprised when the Chinese side clearly told them that they were perturbed by the “excessive” coverage of the terrorism issue by Indian media. Chinese diplomats felt the media coverage was clouding the broader agenda of Brics.

The Chinese were also apparently anxious that there should not be too many paragraphs on the issue of terror in the Goa declaration, but sources said that the Indian side managed to get India’s focus on terror through in the final declaration which was much more elaborate compared to the Ufa summit in Russia last year.

China has been backing its all-weather friend and “Iron brother” Pakistan on the issue of terror and had also recently again blocked a proposed United Nations move to ban Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed’s chief Masood Azhar.

Beijing’s move had irked India which however maintained that this would not figure in the Brics agenda since it was a bilateral issue but that India would raise the matter with China during bilateral meetings ahead of the Brics summit. Understandably, Beijing was nervous.