BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The BRICS countries should strengthen strategic communication, enhance political mutual trust, deepen coordination on security affairs, and make all preparations for the upcoming 13th BRICS Leaders' Meeting, a senior Chinese diplomat said Tuesday.

Speaking at the 11th Meeting of the BRICS High Representatives for Security Issues via video link, Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), emphasized that the BRICS countries should follow the common guidelines of the leaders of the five countries and uphold the BRICS spirit of openness, inclusiveness and win-win cooperation.

Yang, also director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said that the BRICS countries should work together to meet security challenges and threats, unite against the pandemic, respect science, and oppose the stigmatization of the pandemic and the politicization of virus origins tracing.

Yang underscored the need to resolve regional contradictions and hot-spot issues through dialogue and consultation and respect the legitimate concerns of regional countries. 

Yang called on the BRICS countries to strengthen cooperation to address non-traditional security challenges, and oppose the abuse of the concept of national security and discriminatory and unilateral enforcement measures against other countries.

He also called on the BRICS countries to fully accommodate each other's core interests and major concerns, join hands to crack down on cross-border crimes, and enhance cooperation in fields including intelligence sharing, safety precautions, counter-narcotics, cracking down on cyber crimes, counter-terrorism and internet information security. 

He said the BRICS countries must be alert to infringements on the sovereign rights of other countries under the pretext of freedom of navigation. 

China supports the BRICS countries in building early warning mechanism to prevent the risk of large-scale infectious diseases and enhance the ability of contingency reserve and logistics, said Yang, adding that China supports the BRICS countries in strengthening cooperation in fields including digital health, medical and vaccine research and development, as well as traditional medicine.

China welcomes the counter-terrorism action plan reached by the BRICS countries, said Yang, calling on the BRICS countries to actively explore ways to fight terrorism and extremism, deepen cooperation in cracking down on cyber terrorism and stopping terrorism financing, and promote the building of a peaceful, secure, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace.

With regards to the Afghan issue, Yang stressed that political settlement is the only way out for it. The international community should respect the will and choice of the Afghan people and encourage Afghanistan to build a broad and inclusive political structure that suits its national conditions, Yang said.

Efforts must be made to fight terrorism in all its forms, and Afghanistan must never again become a gathering place for terrorist and extremist forces.

Attendees of the meeting had an in-depth exchange of views in topics including international and regional hot-spot issues, cooperation between law enforcement agencies, health and security, anti-terrorism and cyber security.