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India's Stance on Terrorism at SCO Meeting

On Friday, Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar expressed his backing for Defense Minister Rajnath Singh's decision to decline signing the joint statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting. Jaishankar clarified that one member nation of the SCO was unwilling to include any reference to terrorism in the statement, despite the organization's founding purpose being to combat terrorism.

According to reports from a news agency, Jaishankar stated that if the primary goal of the organization is to fight terrorism, then it is unacceptable to omit it from discussions. He noted that Singh had shown reluctance to endorse the statement under these circumstances. Although he did not name the country that opposed mentioning terrorism, he hinted at Pakistan, saying, "You can guess which country it is."

In addition to India, the SCO comprises Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Belarus. India joined the SCO in 2017 and assumed the rotational chairmanship in 2023. Jaishankar emphasized, "The SCO operates on consensus. Therefore, Rajnath Ji clearly stated that if the statement does not mention terrorism, we will not sign it."

During his visit to Qingdao, China, Rajnath Singh had previously refused to sign the joint statement, citing the failure to address terrorism concerns, particularly the April 22 attack in Pahalgam that resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals, mostly tourists. While the joint statement did not mention the Pahalgam incident, it did reference the March 11 abduction by the Balochistan Liberation Army in Pakistan. Singh's refusal led to the absence of a joint communiqué at the SCO defense ministers' meeting.