Jaishankar Urges SCO to Take Strong Stand Against Terrorism

Rapid Summary

• External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar addressed the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Foreign ministers meeting in Tianjin, China, on July 15, 2025.
• Mr. Jaishankar highlighted the Pahalgam terror attack of April 22 that left 26 men dead as an intentional act to harm Jammu adn Kashmir’s economy and stir religious divisions.
• He urged SCO member states to adopt an uncompromising stance against terrorism.
• No joint statement was issued after the meeting; though, discussions focused on political, economic, and regional issues.
• Bilateral meetings were held by Mr. Jaishankar with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
• Ahead of the SCO-CFM meeting,Mr. Jaishankar also met Chinese President Xi Jinping in beijing with other SCO Ministers and discussed India-China relations “normalisation.”
• Chinese media reported President Xi’s call for a more proactive role by SCO amid international challenges like proposed U.S. tariffs on countries importing Russian oil.
• Pakistan’s delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar did not directly address terrorism but underscored peace based on international law in his comments during the event.
• Mr. Jaishankar criticized Pakistan for blocking transit access for India-Afghanistan trade while advocating regional cooperation via initiatives like INSTC through Iran.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The distinctions drawn at this year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s Council of Foreign Ministers reveal underlying tensions among member states regarding combating terrorism effectively-a core mandate of SCO since its inception. Despite External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar pushing for collective accountability over incidents like the Pahalgam terrorist attack, divergent priorities limited progress toward achieving concrete outcomes at this level.

Notably absent from Pakistani statements was a direct reference to countering terrorism-a silence that could reflect geopolitical sensitivities or differing national agendas within multilateral dialogues such as these. On broader diplomatic fronts-such as stalled transit access between India-Afghanistan or strained India-China relations-the engagement highlighted both persistent disagreements and efforts toward pragmatism.

The emphasis placed on developing alternative trade routes signals India’s pragmatic response when confronting barriers within existing frameworks-perhaps fostering deeper ties elsewhere regionally beyond customary channels benefiting interconnected mutual growth inclusively-focused diplomacies aspirational longer-term targeted goals prompt indirectly bypass specific hurdles resilient pillars inclusive pathways overarching new opportunities reconnective spheres solutions collaboratively navigatory flexibilities aim supporting regions collectively diplomatically effect optimizing practically reaffirmation cooperative broadly aspects collaboratively-driven constructively geostrategically meaningful logistical adaptive structures conjunctural aspirations foundational realism strategically bridging grievances sustainably concertedly interlinked rejuvenative reinforced participatively integral finally concretely alignable reciprocal thorough proposing planning strengthen dimensions!

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