‘India’s Concern On Terrorism Wasn’t Acceptable To One Particular Country’: MEA On SCO Declaration Collapse
At the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting, India, represented by Rajnath Singh, refused to sign the joint statement due to a lack of consensus on addressing terrorism. India insisted on including concerns about terrorism, unacceptable to one member.
The Centre said on Thursday that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh participated in the defence ministers' meeting of the SCO and it has concluded after two days. Speaking on the summit, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that a joint statement could not be adopted and that certain member countries could not reach consensus on certain issues, and hence, the document could not be finalised.
#WATCH | Delhi | MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "...The Defence Minister participated in the defence ministers' meeting of the SCO. This meeting happened over two days and has concluded. They could not adopt a joint statement. Certain member countries could not reach… pic.twitter.com/RVkNTREkLz
— ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2025
He also mentioned that India wanted terrorism reflect in the document and it was not acceptable to one particular countries. The MEA spokesperson also said that the Defence Minister called the 11 countries to come together to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
“India wanted concerns and terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country... The Defence Minister, in his address, called upon these 11 countries to come together to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations... He also reiterated the need to uphold that the perpetrators, organisers, financers, sponsors of reprehensible acts of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, need to be held accountable and brought to justice…,” Jaiswal said as quoted by news agency ANI.
India refused to sign the Joint Communiqué at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit being held at Qingdao, China. New Delhi took a tough stance on terrorism during the summit which was also attended by Pakistan as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the perpetrators, financiers and sponsors of terrorism must be held accountable in a veiled jibe against Islamabad.
Addressing the conclave, Singh said some countries are using cross-border terrorism as an "instrument of policy" to provide shelter to terrorists.
"The biggest challenges that we are facing in our region are related to peace, security and trust-deficit," he said.
The root cause of these problems is increasing radicalisation, extremism and terrorism, he said.
"Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of non-state actors and terror groups. Dealing with these challenges requires decisive action and we must unite in our fight against these evils for our collective safety and security," he added.
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," he further said at the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting.
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