India refuses to sign SCO document in China as it skips Pahalgam attack

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has refused to sign the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that snubbed the Pahalgam terror attack in India that killed 26 tourists in April this year, but included the recent Balochistan incident.

He called on the SCO members to unequivocally condemn the terror attack in India’s Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and said that any act of terrorism is ‘criminal and unjustifiable’.

Pahalgam attack was carried out by ‘The Resistance Front’, an offshoot of the Pakistan-based UN-designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

“We reiterate the need to hold the perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of reprehensible acts of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, accountable and bring them to justice. Any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivation, whenever, wherever and by whomever committed,” Singh said.

“SCO members must condemn this evil unequivocally,” the Defence Minister added.

“I believe that the biggest challenges that we are facing in our region are related to peace, security and trust deficit. And the root cause of these problems is increasing radicalisation, extremism and terrorism,” he said.

Defence Minister Singh said that it is “imperative that those who sponsor, nurture and utilise terrorism for their narrow and selfish ends must bear the consequences”.

“Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists. There should be no place for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations,” he asserted.

Singh urged member states to act against the use of modern technology by terrorists, particularly the use of drones for smuggling weapons and narcotics.

He also reiterated India’s consistent support for peace and stability in Afghanistan.

“Our immediate priorities in Afghanistan include providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and contributing to Afghanistan’s overall developmental needs. As Afghanistan’s largest regional development partner, India continues to implement capacity-building initiatives for the Afghan people,” Singh said.

He concluded with a call for greater cooperation among SCO members, stating that India supports “greater cooperation and mutual trust among SCO members. We should collectively aspire to fulfil the aspirations and expectations of our people as well as tackle today's challenges. We must all be in lockstep in our endeavour to strengthen stability and security in our neighbourhood”.

(with inputs from syndicated feed)