PM Modi at SCO: Shun double standards on terror

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Bishkek, urging its members to confront countries that use terrorism as an instrument of state policy and to reject double standards in combating the threat. Modi, speaking alongside Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and other global leaders, emphasized that dialogue and diplomacy are the only ways to resolve global conflicts.

He warned against remaining confined to an action-reaction approach in fighting terrorism, advocating for the dismantling of terrorist ecosystems, including funding networks, recruitment pipelines, and territorial sanctuaries. Modi asserted that states employing terrorism as a policy tool must understand that terrorism can never serve as a strategic asset for anyone.

He noted that terrorism continues to pose a serious challenge to humanity and emphasized that tensions and conflicts must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, as India has consistently called for. In the context of the West Asia crisis, Modi highlighted that a conflict in one region does not remain confined to that region, affecting energy security, maritime trade, and supply chains.

He stressed that the SCO should promote peace and stability, both in Eurasia and the Middle East, advocating for the peaceful resolution of conflicts through political and diplomatic means. The Bishkek Declaration, adopted at the end of the summit, echoed India's position on combating terrorism and called for a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian question, while supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all SCO member states.