At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Tianjin, China on July 15, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar drew global attention to the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
Jaishankar reminded his counterparts at the conclave that the organisation must continue to strive to fight the “three evils” it was founded to combat, referring to the Pahalgam attack.
“The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism. Not surprisingly, they often occur together. Recently, we in India witnessed a graphic example in the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide,” he has been quoted as saying by News18.
“The UN Security Council, of which some of us are currently members, issued a statement that condemned it in the strongest terms and “underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organizers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice”. We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so,” he further said, in a possible reference to Operation Sindoor, where India targeted terrorist hideouts which planned and orchestrated the Pahalgam attack.
The attack claimed 26 innocents lives and forced India to enter Pakistani territory as well as the illegally held Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to take out terror bases of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and other terror groups, like Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).
He highlighted India's commitment to holding perpetrators accountable and bringing them to justice.
Jaishankar emphasised the need for SCO member states to work together to stabilize the global order, mitigate risks, and address longstanding challenges that threaten collective interests, amid rising conflicts, competition, and economic instability.
"In the last few years, we have seen more conflicts, competition and coercion. Economic instability is also visibly on the rise. The challenge before us is to stabilize the global order, de-risk various dimensions and through it all, address longstanding challenges that threaten our collective interests," the EAM posted on X.
Jaishankar underscored the need for cooperation within the SCO to be based on mutual respect, sovereign equality, and adherence to territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states. He also mentioned India's initiatives in areas like startup innovation, traditional medicine, and digital public infrastructure.
"India has taken several initiatives in the SCO in domains ranging from startup and innovation to traditional medicine and digital public infrastructure. We will continue to positively approach new ideas and proposals that are genuinely for our collective good. It is essential that such cooperation is based on mutual respect, sovereign equality and in accordance with territorial integrity and sovereignty of member states," said Jaishankar.
Jaishankar emphasised the importance of addressing current issues, such as the lack of assured transit within the SCO space, to deepen collaboration and promote economic cooperation. He also highlighted the potential of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) to boost regional connectivity.
"Deepening collaboration within the SCO naturally requires more trade, investment and exchanges. For that to move to the next level, it is imperative that we address some current issues. One of them is the lack of assured transit within the SCO space. Its absence undermines the seriousness of advocating cooperation in economic areas. Another is to ensure the promotion of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). We are confident that it will continue to gather momentum," he added.
Jaishankar stressed the need for the international community, particularly SCO members, to provide development assistance to Afghanistan, while ensuring regional stability and concern for the well-being of the Afghan people.
"Afghanistan has been long on the SCO agenda. The compulsions of regional stability are buttressed by our longstanding concern for the well-being of the Afghan people. The international community, particularly SCO members, must therefore step up with development assistance. India, for its part, will certainly do so," added Jaishankar.
He noted the emergence of effective groupings like the SCO in a multi-polar world and emphasised the importance of coming together on a shared agenda to contribute to shaping world affairs.
"The world is today moving towards greater multi-polarity. This is not just in terms of redistribution of national capacities, but also the emergence of effective groupings like SCO. Our ability to contribute to the shaping of world affairs will naturally depend on how well we come together on a shared agenda. That means taking everybody on board," said Jaishankar.
EAM Jaishankar held several high-level interactions on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers' meet.
He met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)'s Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Tuesday.
In a post on X, Russia's Foreign Ministry shared, "Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of External Affairs of India @DrSJaishankar hold a meeting on the sidelines of the #SCO Council of Foreign Ministers meeting."
He also met Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers' meeting in Tianjin, China.
Jaishankar shared the update on X, he wrote, "Good to catch up with FM @araghchi of Iran, this time on the sidelines of the SCO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Tianjin."
Jaishankar is on an official visit to China to attend the SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting. He arrived in Beijing after concluding his trip to Singapore. This is also his first visit to China since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020, which severely strained ties between the two countries.
Earlier in the day, Jaishankar, along with other SCO foreign ministers, met Chinese President Xi Jinping.
His visit comes shortly after recent visits to China by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, both of whom attended SCO-related engagements in June.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also expected to visit India next month to meet NSA Ajit Doval. The meeting will be part of the Special Representatives (SR) dialogue mechanism, aimed at resolving the long-standing boundary dispute between the two countries.
With inputs from ANI
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