New Delhi [India], June 27 : After India refused to sign a joint declaration at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting in China on Thursday, certain reports had claimed that the declaration had found a mention of the Balochistan crisis, but failed to mention the Pahalgam terror attack prompting India not to endorse the document.
However, sources have clarified that these reports are completely incorrect. According to sources, the alphabet soup of the declaration document did not have either B (Balochistan) or P (Pahalgam) in its text. The document did not even have a reference to T (terrorism). This prompted India to back off from signing the final declaration.
Sources also said that the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not sign the SCO document as India was not satisfied with the language of the joint document, as there was no mention of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday stated that the Raksha Mantri was right in not signing the joint document as one country of the 10-member grouping did not want to refer to terrorism. Jaishankar said the main objective of the SCO was to fight terror.
The Ministry of External Affairs had in a statement said that the Defence Ministers' meeting of the SCO concluded without a joint statement due to a lack of consensus among member countries.
"India advocated for the inclusion of terrorism concerns in the document, but one country objected. Defence Minister urged countries to unite against terrorism and hold perpetrators accountable, emphasising regional stability and security," it said.
When asked about the development at a press conference in the national capital, Jaishankar said, "Let me give you some context because I think it's important. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation its objective was to fight terrorism. This organisation exists to fight terrorism. When Rajnath Ji went for a defence ministers' meeting, and there was a discussion on the outcome document, one country. You can guess which one. One country said that no, we do not want a reference to that."
"Rajnath Singh's view rightly was, without that reference, that when the main purpose of the organisation is to fight terrorism, and you are not allowing a reference to that, he expressed his unwillingness to accept... SCO runs with unanimity. One country did not agree to making a reference to terrorism in the statement. So, Rajnath ji clearly said that if there is no mention of terrorism in the statement, we will not sign it," Jaishankar added.
Addressing the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting in China's Qingdao yesterday, Rajnath Singh had said that there should be no place for double standards regarding terrorism, and member countries of the bloc should not hesitate to criticise nations that indulge in such actions.