
Can the China-backed SCO convince India and Pakistan to resolve their differences?
The defence ministers from the two neighbours were in China under the umbrella of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional political, security and economic group. This week it was
the turn of SCO foreign ministers , who met in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin.
It, too, was a rare chance for Indian and Pakistani officials to come together – if only in a group setting.
The two countries have been engaged in an uneasy truce since a terrorist attack in the Indian-administered resort town of Kashmir killed 26 tourists escalated into several days of
heavy cross-border military fire . New Delhi blamed Islamabad-backed militants for the attack, accusations Pakistan denied.
While there was no apparent bilateral engagement this week, the foreign ministers of both countries used the SCO platform to state their claims on the conflict.
Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar cited the April attack as 'a graphic example of terrorism', pointing the finger at Islamabad.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China and Pakistan expand tech collaboration to nuclear power, space and AI
Pakistan is deepening technological cooperation with China, expanding beyond aircraft and missiles to advanced sectors such as space exploration and nuclear technology, according to the country's planning minister. Ahsan Iqbal, Pakistan's minister for planning, development and special initiatives, said the country was keen to strengthen scientific partnerships with China, including in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. He made the comments on Monday at the Pakistani embassy in Beijing during his week-long visit to China. 'I had an opportunity to meet with the new chairman of China's nuclear authority and the space agency,' Iqbal said. 'We also discussed how we can further strengthen our cooperation in peaceful nuclear use of technology by extending nuclear power into agriculture.' In April, Pakistan's Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 3, which uses the Chinese-made Hualong One reactor , completed its final tests before going into operation. It is the second unit at the Karachi power plant to use the Chinese reactor. Hualong One is China's independently developed third-generation pressurised water reactor. Each unit can generate over 10 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power annually. The two reactors at the Karachi facility are the first Hualong One reactors that China has exported.


South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
South Korea's ‘headache': defence cost-sharing on agenda for US summit, but no Taiwan talk
The United States is expected to pile pressure on South Korea for increased burden-sharing of defence costs in a coming summit between the leaders of both countries, with Seoul's role in a potential Taiwan conflict set to be excluded from the agenda. The cautious stance on China also aligns with the office of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stressing the importance of fostering ties and engagement, as it downplays comments by his foreign minister labelling Beijing a 'problem'. Discussions are still under way to finalise the agenda for the first summit between Lee and US President Donald Trump , tentatively set for later this month in Washington. US representatives have reportedly informed Seoul during working-level talks that Washington does not plan to raise the Taiwan issue at the summit, according to Yonhap News Agency. Instead, the summit was likely to yield only a broad agreement to elevate the bilateral alliance into a 'comprehensive strategic alliance' in response to an evolving regional security environment, it said. Public Affairs Director of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff Lee Sung-jun (left) and United States Forces Korea Public Affairs Director Ryan Donald (right) at Thursday's press briefing on the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, part of an annual combined training with troops from South Korea and the United States. Photo: EPA The progressive Hankyoreh daily, citing a senior government official, also reported that South Korea's role in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would not be broached at the summit. 'That is a hypothetical situation, so we will not talk about it,' the official said.


RTHK
11 hours ago
- RTHK
Trump hikes India levy over Russian oil
Trump hikes India levy over Russian oil US President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on goods from India. Photo: AFP US President Donald Trump has ordered steeper tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi's continued purchase of Russian oil. The additional 25-percent tariff on Indian goods, coming into place in three weeks, stacks atop a separate 25-percent duty entering into force on Thursday, taking the level to 50 percent for many products. Trump's order also threatens penalties on other countries who "directly or indirectly" import Russian oil, a key revenue source for Moscow's war in Ukraine. Exemptions remain however for goods targeted under sector-specific duties such as steel and aluminium, and categories that could be hit later, like pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. Smartphones are in this list of exempted products for now, shielding Apple from a major hit as the US tech titan shifts production from China to India. India's foreign ministry condemned Trump's announcement, calling the move "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable." The ministry previously said India began importing oil from Russia as traditional supplies were diverted to Europe over the war – noting that Washington had "actively encouraged" such imports to strengthen "global energy market stability." But Trump recently raised pressure on India over the oil purchases, threatening new tariffs as part of a campaign to force Moscow into ending its conflict with Ukraine. The 25-percent additional tariff is lower than a 100-percent level Trump floated last month when he told Russia to end the war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions. The Republican said at the time that these would be "secondary tariffs" targeting Russia's remaining trade partners, seeking to impede Moscow's ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions. "This marks a low point in US-India relations," said Farwa Aamer, the Asia Society Policy Institute's director of South Asia Initiatives. She expects domestic pressure for India to accede to US demands, but said "this will be a tough road to navigate." (AFP)