Xi asks BRICS to jointly safeguard world peace

Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday called on the BRICS nations to jointly safeguard world peace and tranquillity, and asked them to oppose the "abuse" of unilateral sanctions and reject the formation of "small circles", in an apparent jibe at the US.

Xi, who hosted the 14th BRICS Summit via video link, also noted that the shadows of Cold War mentality and power politics linger on in today's world, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa took part in the annual summit hosted by President Xi.

In a veiled attack on the US and EU, he said certain countries, in attempts to expand military alliances to pursue absolute security, have coerced others to pick sides and created confrontation. "They ignored other countries' rights and interests while seeking supremacy , he said.

"The world will become even more volatile and unstable if we allow the dangerous trend to continue," Xi said.