‘Concerns not acceptable to one particular country’: MEA reveals why India refused to sign SCO joint declaration

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday (Jun 26) said that India refused to sign the joint declaration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in China over concerns that terrorism was not included in the document. It added that the proposal was “not acceptable to one particular country,” which prevented the consensus required for adoption. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to China, did not sign the document as it “would have diluted India’s stand,” according to sources.

During a press briefing, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Rajnath Singh reiterated India’s firm stance against terrorism. The defence minister also urged member countries to fight terrorism in “all its forms and manifestations.”

“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 consensus on certain issues, and hence, the document could not be finalised. India wanted concerns and terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country, and therefore, the statement could not be adopted,” Jaiswal said.

“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,” he added.

Another reason for India’s decision was the fact that the document did not the deadly Pahalgam terror attack that happened on April 22, but included reference to incidents in Pakistan.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said at the SCO meeting that there should be no double standards on terrorism. He added that countries that support such acts must be called out. He further said that terrorism and peace cannot exist together.

“I believe that the biggest challenges that we are facing in our region are related to peace, security and trust deficit. And the root cause of these problems is increasing radicalisation, extremism and terrorism,” he said.

The defence minister also warned that terror groups are gaining access to weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). He said, “Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) 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.”