Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign a joint declaration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, China. The reason was that the draft declaration on terrorism did not mention the Pahalgam terror attack, which India strongly condemns.
India accused Pakistan of planning and supporting the Pahalgam attack. The draft declaration mentioned a different attack in Balochistan but left out Pahalgam, because China (the current SCO Chair) and Pakistan wanted it excluded. Rajnath Singh and his team protested this decision, leading to the joint declaration being delayed.
At the meeting, Rajnath Singh did not name Pakistan but said some countries use cross-border terrorism as a policy and protect terrorists. He said such double standards should not be allowed.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif also attended the meeting, but there was no meeting between him and Rajnath Singh.
Rajnath Singh asked for stronger action to stop young people from becoming radicalized. He also spoke about the need to fight terrorists using new technology like drones for smuggling weapons and drugs.
He said the threats from terrorism and cyber-attacks cross borders and need countries to work together based on trust and transparency. India remains determined to fight terrorism in all forms.
The SCO is a group of 10 countries, including India, China, Russia, and Pakistan, working together for regional security. The Defence Ministers’ meeting discusses important security issues in the region.
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