Why India Won't Hold Bilateral Meet With Pakistan At SCO: Decoding Diplomatic Message
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will lead a high-level Indian delegation, including NSA Ajit Doval, at the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting from June 25-26
While both India and Pakistan will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), New Delhi will not hold any bilateral meeting as part of the tactical disengagement from Pakistan in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam attack, said intelligence sources.
India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will lead a high-level Indian delegation, including National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval, at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' Meeting to be held at Qingdao, China from June 25 to 26. Pakistan's NSA Asim Malik and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will also attend the SCO meet.
Singh is expected to highlight India's continued commitment to the principles and mandate of the SCO, outline India's vision towards achieving greater international peace and security, call for joint and consistent efforts to eliminate terrorism & extremism in the region, and stress on the need for greater trade, economic cooperation and connectivity within SCO. He will also hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of some participating countries, including China and Russia, on the sidelines of the meeting.
'The absence of a bilateral meeting with Pakistan is a deliberate diplomatic signal," said sources.
According to them, India's stance is clear — Pakistan will not be entertained unless it ceases cross-border terrorism.
The approach follows India's established pattern of using international fora to 'name and shame" Pakistan, as observed during the FATF proceedings and UNSC informal dialogues.
New Delhi now considers bilateral talks as potentially rewarding bad behaviour unless Pakistan first demonstrates verifiable efforts to dismantle terror networks, said sources. This viewpoint was underscored by Doval's indirect rebuke during his meeting with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, reinforcing India's stance on the necessity for substantive changes rather than mere diplomatic optics.
At the meet, India's strategic focus is on recalibrating its ties with China amid the ongoing, fragile LAC standoff. Both Doval and Singh are engaging China directly, signalling India's view of the SCO as primarily a China-centric platform, not a venue for indulging Pakistan, said sources.
'Although Pakistan is attending the SCO, its credibility and leverage within the organisation are diminishing. Notably, Pakistan skipped SCO meetings held in India in 2023, and its Defence Minister's social media accounts have been banned in India for glorifying terror activities," they said.
Key SCO members, including Russia and Central Asian states, are also wary of Islamist spillover, which has led to reduced tolerance for Pakistan's double game, they said.
SCO is an inter-governmental organisation established in 2001. India became a full member in 2017 and assumed the rotating Chairmanship in 2023. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus, besides India. China has assumed the Chair of the SCO for 2025 under the theme 'Upholding the Shanghai Spirit: SCO on the Move'.
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