From Moscow SCO Meeting, Jaishankar’s Veiled Warning To Pakistan On Terrorism | India News

Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar issued a subtle but firm warning to Pakistan on terrorism in his speech at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of Government Council meeting in Moscow on Tuesday. Jaishankar renewed India’s call for zero tolerance towards terrorism, emphasizing that such acts “cannot be justified or justified in any way”.

Addressing the meeting, EAM Jaishankar said, “We must never forget that the SCO was established to combat the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. These threats have become more serious in the past years. It is imperative that the world has zero tolerance for all forms and manifestations of terrorism. There can be no justification, ignoring or whitewashing. As India has shown, we have the right to defend our people against terrorism and we will exercise it.” he said.

The Council of Heads of Government (CHG) is the second most important SCO mechanism, meeting annually to decide on key issues regarding trade-economic cooperation as well as the SCO annual budget. The last meeting of the CHG was held in Pakistan in October 2024.

EAM Jaishankar said India also strongly believes that people-to-people exchanges lie at the core of any genuine relationship.

“As a civilizational state, India strongly believes that people-to-people exchanges lie at the heart of true relationship. Facilitating greater interaction between our intellectuals, artists, athletes and cultural icons will pave the way for deeper understanding across the SCO. We also have increasing collaborative activities on cultural exchanges. The display of sacred Buddhist relics in many of your countries is a notable example. India is also keen to extend its significant experience in heritage conservation in Southeast Asia to Central Asia on humanitarian cooperation,” he said.

EAM Jaishankar expressed India’s strong support for the reform-oriented agenda and added that India welcomes centers tackling challenges such as organized crime, drug trafficking and cybersecurity. He also said: “As the organization becomes more diverse, the SCO should become more flexible and more adaptable. To this end, the long-delayed decision to make English the official language of the SCO should be given priority.”

Elaborating on India’s approach to trade and economic issues, he said: “We currently assess the global economic situation to be particularly uncertain and volatile. Supply-side risks have been aggravated by demand-side complexities. Consequently, there is an urgent need to downplay and diversify. This can best be done by as many of us establishing the broadest possible economic links. For this to happen, it is essential that this process is fair, transparent and equitable. India’s efforts to establish free trade arrangements with many of you here are relevant.” (With inputs from IANS)