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India left red-faced at SCO ministerial moot
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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.
