New Delhi|June,26: The Government on Thursday said that India wanted to reflect on the issue of terrorism during the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in China but ‘one particular country’ objected.
Randhir Jaiswal, Minstry of External Affairs spokesperson here on Thursday said “India wanted concerns and terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country… The Defence Minister [Rajnath Singh], in his address, called upon these 11 countries to come together to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations… He also reiterated the need to uphold that the perpetrators, organisers, financers, sponsors of reprehensible acts of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, need to be held accountable and brought to justice…”
Earlier, sources said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) document that would have diluted India’s stand on terrorism and the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 dead. Due to divergence on the issue of terrorism, the SCO decided not to issue a joint statement. “The Defence Minister participated in the defence ministers’ meeting of the SCO. This meeting happened over two days and has concluded. They could not adopt a joint statement. Certain member countries could not reach consensus on certain issues, and hence, the document could not be finalised,” the MEA spokesperson confirmed. Sources said China, which holds the SCO chair, and its “all-weather friend” Pakistan tried to divert the attention from terrorism in the SCO document, skipping any mention of the Pahalgam attack. However, the document mentioned Balochistan, a veiled attempt to accuse India of creating unrest in the Pakistani province.
