India opts out of SCO Defence Ministers statement over differences on terrorism with China, Pakistan

India has opted out of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting joint statement over differences with China and Pakistan on the issue of terrorism. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign the document as it "would have diluted India’s stand", sources said. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is in China for a 2-day visit to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence minister meeting.

Sources explaining the rationale of India's stance said, 'Defence Minister Rajnath Singh firmly stood ground on India’s stand on terrorism and Pahalgam', adding, 'It resulted into no Joint Statement or protocol will be issued. Pak and China were trying to divert the attention from terrorism.'

SCO is a major grouping of 10 countries – China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India, Pakistan, Iran, Belarus- that focuses on issues like counterterrorism, connectivity, etc. China is the host of the grouping for this year and will also be hosting the defence minister meeting in July and the summit in September.

Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh slammed Pakistan over its support for cross-border terror. He 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”.

No meeting with the Pakistani defence minister and the Indian defence minister will take place in Qingdao, given Islamabad's continued support for terrorism in India. Ties between India, Pakistan went for a free fall after the Pahalgam terror attack perpetrated by Pakistan trained terrorists.