India refused to sign a joint declaration to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in China because it did not reflect the country’s concerns on terrorism, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Randir Jaiswal spokesperson said On Thursday, the desire of India that his concerns were reflected was “not acceptable for a particular country”.
Although he did not share more details, the Indian media reported that Delhi had refused to sign the declaration after omitting the attack on Pahalgam, a deadly militant attack that killed 26 tourists to the cashmere administered by the Indians.
India blamed his neighbor Pakistan to have sheltered a militant group which he blamed for the attack. Pakistan has rejected allegations.
China, Russia and four Central Asian countries formed SCO in 2001 as a counter-measure to limit the influence of the West in the region. India and Pakistan joined in 2017.
The last signature ceremony took place at the Réunion of OCS Defense Ministers in China, held before the annual summit of this fall leaders.
According to the media, India received joint declaration as “pro-Pakistan” after omitting the attack on Pahalgam but mentioned militant activities in Balutchistan.
Pakistan accused India of supporting the Balutchistan freedom movement, which India denies.
After the meeting, the Indian Minister of Defense, Rajnath Singh, urged the SCO to hold the authors of responsible cross -border terrorism, although he did not explicitly mention Pakistan.
“Some countries use cross-border terrorism as a policy instrument and offer shelter to terrorists. There should not be room for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticize these nations,” he said in a statement.
India and Pakistan fought three wars on cashmere, which they claim to have in whole but administer in parts.
Pahalgam’s attack in April brought the two nuclear countries to the edge of another war.
In May, India launched a series of air strikes, targeting the sites it called “terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and cashmere administered by Pakistan”.
Pakistan denied the assertion that these were terrorist camps and also responded by firing missiles and in deployment of drones in Indian territory.
Hostilities between the two countries continued until May 10, when US President Donald Trump announced that India and Pakistan had accepted a “full and immediate ceasefire”, negotiated by the United States.
India has however always denied any intervention of the United States.
