By Our Correspondent, New Delhi: India on Thursday strongly rebuffed the double standards of China and Pakistan by refusing to sign a joint statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet, as the declaration ignored the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that claimed 26 lives. In a bizarre move, the statement, however, mentioned Balochistan.
A defence ministry source said, “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is now attending the SCO meet at China’s Qingdao, has refused to sign a joint statement as it dilutes India’s stance on terrorism. India has expressed strong displeasure at the tone and tenor of the statement.”
The summit is being attended by 10 member countries–Belarus, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Delivering his speech, Rajnath Singh said, “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 radicalization, extremism and terrorism.”
“Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in the hands of non-state actors and terror groups. Dealing with these challenges require decisive action and we must unite in our fight against these evils for our collective safety and security.”
Taking a dig at Pakistan, the defence minister said, “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.”
The defence minister dealt directly on the Pahalgam attack, saying, “The Resistance Front (TRF) carried out a dastardly and heinous attack on innocent tourists at Pahalgam. Victims were shot at after they were profiled based on religious identity. The Resistance Front which is a proxy of UN designated terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) claimed responsibility for the attack.”
“The pattern of Pahalgam terror attack matches with LeT’s previous terror attacks in India. In exercising its right to defend against terrorism and pre-empt as well as deter further cross border terrorist attacks, India on 7th May 2025 successfully launched Op Sindoor to dismantle cross border terrorist infrastructure.”
“We reiterate the need to hold the perpetrators, organizers, 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 whom-so-ever committed. SCO members must condemn this evil unequivocally.”
India’s zero tolerance for terrorism is manifest today through its actions. This includes our right to defend ourselves against terrorism. We have shown that epicentres of terrorism are no longer safe and we will not hesitate to target them,” said the defence minister.
