India Says “No” at SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Terrorism Dispute Sparks Rift with China and Pakistan

India made headlines this week by refusing to sign the joint statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Qingdao, China. The decision has sparked a lot of discussion, especially about the roles of Pakistan and China in shaping the statement.

 

Key Points:

 

India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, walked away from the agreement because the statement didn’t mention the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir. That attack killed 26 civilians, and India blames the Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba for it.

 

The draft statement, put together mainly by China and Pakistan, also included references to unrest in Balochistan. This is sensitive for India because it suggests India is involved in stirring trouble there, which New Delhi strongly denies.

 

India wanted the statement to clearly condemn cross-border terrorism and not shy away from naming the problem. China, however, was not willing to let Pakistan be singled out, which led to a standoff.

 

Rajnath Singh made it clear in his speech that using terrorism as a tool of state policy is unacceptable. It was a direct message to Pakistan, even if he didn’t mention them by name.

 

With no agreement, the group didn’t release any joint statement at all. This is unusual and shows just how divided the members are on the issue of terrorism.

 

India’s decision is part of a pattern. In recent years, New Delhi has pushed back whenever it feels international statements are watered down or don’t reflect its concerns, especially when it comes to terrorism.

 

Source: NDTV, Times of India, The Print, Economic Times, India Today