New Delhi [India], June 26 : The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said India refused to sign the joint declaration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in China as its concerns on terrorism were not included in the document, a proposal that was "not acceptable to one particular country", preventing the consensus required for adoption.
Addressing a press briefing, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated India's firm stance against terrorism during his address, urging member countries to fight terrorism in "all its forms and manifestations."
"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. India wanted concerns and terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country, and therefore the statement could not be adopted," Randhir Jaiswal said.
"The Defence Minister, 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," he added.
India's decision not to sign the declaration was also influenced by the fact that it did not mention the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, but included references to incidents in Pakistan.
Speaking at the SCO meeting in China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said there should be no double standards on terrorism and that countries supporting such acts must be called out. Without naming Pakistan directly, he said terrorism and peace cannot exist together.
"I believe that the biggest challenges that we are facing in our region are related to peace, security and trust deficit. And the root cause of these problems is increasing radicalisation, extremism and terrorism, he said.
He also warned about the danger of terror groups gaining access to weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), saying, "Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) in the hands of non-state actors and terror groups. Dealing with these challenges requires decisive action, and we must unite in our fight against these evils for our collective safety and security."