External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday defended India's decision not to support the joint statement of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers, claiming that a statement from an organisation whose main goal is to fight terrorism is useless if it does not specifically address the problem.
India had adamantly pushed for the final outcome document of the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting, which was held in China, to include a strong reference to terrorism, especially cross-border terrorism. The recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, was mentioned in this. But according to reports, Pakistan blocked the proposal because it didn't want the statement to mention terrorism. Rajnath Singh, the minister of defence, refused to sign the joint communiqué as a result.
“When the main purpose of the organisation is to fight terrorism, and you are not allowing a reference to that, the outcome loses meaning,” Jaishankar stated during a media briefing, underlining the core contradiction.
Jaishankar elaborated on Singh's reasoning, stating that the SCO operates on the principle of consensus, which requires that the final text be approved by all of its member countries. “SCO runs with unanimity. So Rajnath ji clearly said that if there is no mention of terrorism in the statement, we will not sign it,” he said.
Rajnath Singh had adamantly pushed for the inclusion of explicit language denouncing terrorism during the meeting in China, with a focus on cross-border terrorism, which has long been a concern for India, particularly with regard to Pakistan. In addition to objecting to this inclusion, the Pakistani delegation allegedly tried to add a paragraph about Balochistan, which New Delhi saw as an attempt to politicise the outcome document and divert attention away from the actual problem.
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“In the discussion on the outcome document, one country — you can guess which one — said ‘no, we don’t want reference to that (terrorism),’” Jaishankar remarked, indirectly referring to Pakistan.
India was unable to support the final document because of the SCO's consensus-based decision-making principle, which was violated by one member's refusal to accept references to terrorism. Jaishankar reaffirmed that this deadlock was the direct cause of Singh's refusal to sign.
India became a full member of the SCO in 2017 and served as its chair in 2023. New Delhi has emphasised repeatedly throughout its membership that combating terrorism must continue to be a top priority for the SCO.
Singh also made a subtle but direct allusion to Pakistan's purported support for cross-border terrorist activities when he underlined the need to hold the "perpetrators, organisers, financiers, and sponsors" of terrorism accountable during the meeting in China. India, Pakistan, China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and Belarus are all members of the SCO, a regional security and political alliance. The organization's mission is to promote collaboration in counterterrorism, economic development, and regional security. However, when member nations have divergent interests, its consensus-driven structure frequently results in diplomatic impasses.
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