- Friday, February 28, 2025
There must not be any double standards in combating terrorist activities, the Indian prime minister said at the event that also saw the presence of Chinese president Xi Jinping.
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (4) took a veiled dig at Pakistan, telling leaders of the member-states of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) at its annual virtual summit that “there must not be any double standards in combating terrorist activities” and the “bloc must not hesitate to criticise countries that support cross-border terrorism as part of state policy”.
The Indian leader said this in the presence of Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin who took part in the virtual talks. He also emphasised on the need for a decisive action to deal with terrorism and terror financing.
Addressing the SCO Summit. https://t.co/oO9B1nnXer
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2023
“Terrorism has become a threat to regional and global peace,” Modi said, calling for expanding mutual cooperation to deal with the menace by the grouping.
PM Modi took a sly jibe at China and Pakistan.
"Some countries use cross-border terrorism. SCO countries should condemn it. There should be no double standards on terrorism." pic.twitter.com/9vV5irKy1I
— BALA (@erbmjha) July 4, 2023
“We have to fight together against terrorism that may be in any form and any manifestation,” he added, asserting that there must not be any double standards in fighting terrorism.
The virtual summit was held under the presidency of India. Leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran were also present. The Indian prime minister said he was happy that Iran was joining the SCO as a new member.
Chairing the summit, Modi also delved into various global challenges.
The food, fuel and fertiliser crisis is a big challenge for all the countries in the world surrounded by controversies, tensions and epidemics and there must be united efforts to deal with it, he said.
On the situation in Afghanistan, the Indian prime minister said India’s concerns and expectations regarding that country are similar to those of most SCO countries.
He said the SCO has emerged as a key platform for peace, prosperity and development for Eurasia.
India’s thousands of years old cultural and people-to-people ties with this region (Eurasia) are living testimony to our shared heritage, he said.
As chair of SCO, India has made sustained efforts to take our multifaceted cooperation to new heights, he added.
India’s association with the SCO, which was set up in 2001, began in 2005 as an observer country. It became a full member state of SCO along with Pakistan at the Astana summit in Kazakhstan in 2017.
