India Refuses to Sign SCO Joint Statement, Citing Omission of Pahalgam Attack

 India Refuses to Sign SCO Joint Statement, Citing Omission of Pahalgam Attack

QINGDAO, CHINA — In a strong diplomatic move, India declined to endorse the joint statement issued at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting, objecting to the absence of any mention of the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir.

Sources confirmed that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign the final document during the summit held in Qingdao, China, on Thursday. The Indian side pushed for the inclusion of more direct and assertive language on terrorism — specifically referencing the April 22 attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, including a Nepali tourist.

According to officials familiar with the matter, the draft statement did include references to militant activity in Balochistan, but made no mention of the Pahalgam attack, despite it being one of the deadliest in the region this year. Indian representatives viewed this as an attempt by Pakistan and China to deflect focus from cross-border terrorism and weaken the SCO’s collective stance against such acts.

In his address to the gathering, Rajnath Singh described the attack in Pahalgam as “dastardly and heinous,” carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a group India identifies as a front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba. Singh emphasized that the victims were innocent tourists, and the brutality of the attack underscored the urgent need for the SCO to take a tougher stand on terrorism.

“Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and the unchecked spread of weapons of mass destruction into the hands of non-state actors,” Singh said. “Those who sponsor and harbor terrorism for narrow geopolitical ends must be held accountable.”

He also called out the “double standards” of some countries that, according to India, use terrorism as a tool of foreign policy while shielding perpetrators from global scrutiny.

“There should be no place for such hypocrisy. The SCO must have the courage to name and shame those who enable terrorism,” Singh added.

India’s firm stance at the SCO reflects growing frustration with what it sees as the international community’s failure to adequately address state-sponsored terrorism. The decision to withhold endorsement of the joint statement sends a clear message: for New Delhi, counterterrorism cannot be compromised for diplomatic niceties.