During the ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers` meeting, Union External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday said, “India wanted a reference to terrorism in the outcome document of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers` meeting, but it was not acceptable to one member country,” an oblique reference to Pakistan.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers` meeting was held from June 25 to 26 in Qingdao, China.
As reported by PTI, India’s Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, also stated that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh`s view on the matter was right since the main purpose of SCO was to fight terrorism, and without a reference to it (on India`s concerns on terrorism), he would not accept the outcome document.”
Earlier on June 26, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday refused to sign a joint communique of the SCO following the omission of the Pahalgam terror attack and not explicitly addressing India`s concerns over Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.
At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, India raised its concerns about the terrorism that has been spreading across the globe. While criticising global terror activities, India also cited their conflicts with Pakistan over the Pahalgam issue.
At a conference of the SCO defence ministers` conclave, India’s Defence Minister also demanded the inclusion of the terror attack in the communique while the Pakistani side pressed for having a paragraph on militant activities in Balochistan in an apparent attempt to blame New Delhi, top sources said, as per PTI.
Moreover, with Rajnath Singh`s refusal, the SCO Defence Ministers` Meeting on July 26 concluded with no joint statement from the participants.
The objective of the SCO that runs through consensus was to fight terrorism, Jaishankar said in a press conference when asked about Singh`s stand.
S. Jaishankar on the SCO Summit stated that “In the discussion on the outcome document of the defence ministers` meeting, one country – you can guess which one – said, `No, we don`t want reference to that.`”
The SCO runs by unanimity, Jaishankar said, but when one country said it would not accept any mention of terrorism, Singh communicated that the outcome document was not acceptable to India.
(With PTI Inputs)