'SCO exists to fight terrorism': Jaishankar backs Rajnath Singh's refusal to sign joint declaration

A day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh declined to sign a joint declaration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in China, Union Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar on Friday backed the move, saying the SCO exists to fight terrorism.

"Let me give you some context because I think it's important. The SCO's objective was to fight terrorism. This organisation exists to fight against terrorism," said Jaishankar.

Taking a veiled dig at Pakistan, the minister added that one country did not want reference to terrorism. "...One country, you can guess which one... that one country said, 'no, no, we do not want a reference to that'," he added.

Backing the defence minister, Jaishankar said since the main purpose of the SCO is to fight terrorism and its reference is missing in the joint document, Singh was right to not accept the outcome.

"SCO runs with unanimity. One country did not agree for making reference to terrorism in the statement. So, Rajnath ji clearly said that if there is no mention of terrorism in the statement, we will not sign it," added the minister.

The joint communique on Thursday omitted the reference to the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians. Ironically, the document mentioned Balochistan militancy, a vitriolic attempt to pin the blame on India for insurgency in Pakistan.

During the meeting at Qingdao, the defence minister pointed out that those who sponsor terrorism because of their selfishness must be held accountable, adding that there should no place for such double standards.

 

India