India left red-faced at SCO ministerial moot
Listen to article
India suffered a diplomatic humiliation on Thursday at the meeting of Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) when member states refused to back New Delhi's stance against Pakistan.
The defence members from 10-nation SCO, including host China, Russia, Iran, India, Pakistan and others came together for a two-day huddle in the Chinese city of Qingdao.
The meeting ended without the issuance of a joint communiqué as India refused to sign the document, citing reservations and claiming the statement to be aligned with Pakistan's stance.
The draft joint statement did not mention the Pahalgam attack, despite India's best efforts, but made reference to terrorist incidents in Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan. Except India, all other members endorsed the joint statement.
However, India refused to sign the document, leaving the host country not to issue a joint statement.
Diplomatic sources told The Express Tribune that it was a major diplomatic success for Pakistan and a blow to India, which tried to politicise the SCO meeting and implicate Islamabad.
Although the Indian media tried to spin the narrative and insisted the Indian defence minister stood his ground, former Indian foreign minister and BJP leader Yaswant Singha admitted that it was a total failure of the Modi government.
"India stands completely isolated at the global stage. The SCO communiqué is the latest example where the terror attack at Pahalgam has been ignored and Balochistan has been mentioned. The prime minister has failed completely and must resign," wrote Sinha on X, who served as India's foreign minister during Vajpayee's government.
The reason India could not muster support from other countries was its failure to present any shred of evidence against Pakistan following the Pahalgam attack.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, when addressed the SCO meeting did not offer anything new. Instead he referred to the past terrorist incidents as evidence of Pakistan's involvement.
Singh reportedly argued that the joint statement "aligned with Pakistan's narrative" because it did not include the attack, but mentioned terrorist activities in Balochistan, according to the Indian media.
Singh, without explicitly naming Pakistan, urged the SCO to criticise countries that use "cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists". He said members should unite in eliminating terrorism and ensure accountability for those who aid such activities, without mentioning Pakistan.
"Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the hands of non-state actors and terror groups. Dealing with these challenges requires decisive action," said Singh, according to a defence ministry statement.
Taking a jibe at his Indian counterpart, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told the SCO that Pakistan condemned the terrorist attack in the internationally-recognised disputed and illegally-occupied region of Kashmir. "We call upon all states to hold these states to account who planned, financed and sponsored terrorist attacks such as Jaffar Express in Balochistan," he demanded.
He pledged Islamabad's unwavering commitment to SCO's principles and objectives but highlighted the need for resolving long standing issues.
"The international community should ensure a peaceful resolution of the long-standing unresolved conflicts of Kashmir [as such] unresolved conflicts remain a constant threat to global peace and security," he stressed.
The defence minister described terrorism as a common threat which needed to be dealt with collectively.
"All states should refrain from politicising joint efforts against terrorism," the minister added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
2 hours ago
- Business Recorder
US says deal with Beijing will expedite rare earth exports from China
WASHINGTON: The United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the U.S., a White House official said on Thursday, amid efforts to end a trade war between the world's biggest economies. President Donald Trump earlier said the United States had signed a deal with China on Wednesday, without providing additional details, and that there might be a separate deal coming up that would 'open up' India. During U.S.-China trade talks in May in Geneva, Beijing committed to removing non-tariff countermeasures imposed against the United States since April 2, although it was unclear how some of those measures would be walked back. As part of its retaliation against new U.S. tariffs, China suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, upending the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. 'The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement,' a White House official said on Thursday. The understanding is 'about how we can implement expediting rare earths shipments to the U.S. again', the official said. China warns global trade tensions 'intensifying' A separate administration official said the U.S.-China agreement took place earlier this week. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was quoted as saying by Bloomberg: 'They're going to deliver rare earths to us' and once they do that 'we'll take down our countermeasures.' On Friday, China's commerce ministry said the two countries recently confirmed details on the framework of implementing the Geneva trade talks consensus. It said China will approve export applications of controlled items in accordance with the law. It did not mention rare earths. While the agreement shows potential progress following months of trade uncertainty and disruption since Trump took office in January, it also underscores the long road ahead to a final, definitive trade deal between the two economic rivals. China has been taking its dual-use restrictions on rare earths 'very seriously' and has been vetting buyers to ensure that materials are not diverted to U.S. military uses, according to an industry source. This has slowed down the licensing process. The Geneva deal had faltered over China's curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft and other goods to China. In early June, Reuters reported China had granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of the top three U.S. automakers, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as supply chain disruptions began to surface from export curbs on those materials. Later in the month, Trump said there was a deal with China in which Beijing would supply magnets and rare earth minerals while the U.S. would allow Chinese students in its colleges and universities.
Business Recorder
4 hours ago
- Business Recorder
India, Russia discussed supply of missile systems, upgrades to fighter jets, New Delhi says
India and Russia discussed the supply of S-400 missile systems, upgrades to Su-30 MKI fighter jets, and the procurement of critical military hardware, the Indian government said on Friday. JF-17 Thunder taking off to destroy Indian S-400 defence system The defence ministers of both countries met on Thursday on the sidelines of the SCO meet in China.
Business Recorder
5 hours ago
- Business Recorder
India seeks ‘permanent solution' to border dispute with China
NEW DELHI: Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart that the two countries should seek a 'permanent solution' to their decades-old border dispute, India's defence ministry said on Friday. Singh met China's Dong Jun on the sidelines of the meeting of the defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Qingdao on Thursday and stressed on solving issues between the two countries through a structured roadmap, the ministry said in a statement. The world's two most populous nations - both nuclear powers - share a 3,800 km (2,400 mile), largely undemarcated and disputed border in the Himalayas and have gone to war over it. Although the frontier has been mostly peaceful in recent decades, a deadly clash between their troops in 2020 resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers. India says defence gathering in China unable to adopt joint statement The clash led to a four-year military standoff with both armies deploying tens of thousands of troops in the mountains until they reached a pact in October to step back, leading to a thaw in ties. During his meeting with Dong, Singh also called for bridging the trust deficit created after the 2020 standoff, New Delhi said. SCO is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. Their defence ministers' meeting was held as a precursor to the annual summit of its leaders set for the autumn.
