SCO must have an ‘uncompromising position’ on terrorism, Jaishankar tells Foreign Ministers

The Pahalgam terrorist attack of April 22 was carried out to hurt the Jammu and Kashmir economy and to “sow a religious divide”, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers (SCO-CFM) meeting in China, where other SCO Ministers — including Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar — were present, and called for support to bring the perpetrators to justice.

On Tuesday (July 15, 2025), Mr. Jaishankar and the other SCO Ministers from Russia, Iran, Belarus and Central Asian states called on Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday (July 15, 2025) before proceeding to the SCO meeting in Tianjin by train. The External Affairs Minister also held bilateral talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, both of whom he met earlier this month at the BRICS summit in Brazil.

Mr. Jaishankar’s comments came a month after the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting failed to issue a joint statement following differences over the references to terrorism. While no statement was issued after the SCO Foreign Ministers’ meeting as well, officials said it was not the practice to do so, as the Foreign Ministers were normally tasked with finalising the agenda for the Summit of leaders on August 31-September 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to travel to Tianjin for the summit, which would be his first such visit since the Galwan clashes in 2020.

“The three evils that SCO was founded to combat were terrorism, separatism and extremism,” Mr. Jaishankar said during his speech at the meeting, where he referred to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 men, mostly tourists, were religiously identified and killed. “It was deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide”, he added, calling for the SCO to take an “uncompromising position” on the challenge of terrorism, and referring to the UN Security Council resolution issued in April about the attack.

Mr. Jaishankar’s meeting with Mr. Xi came a day after he held bilateral talks in Beijing with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and called on Chinese Vice President Han Zheng, where he hailed the “continued normalisation” of India-China relations. The Minister said that he had apprised President Xi of recent developments in bilateral relations. “I value the guidance of our leaders in that regard”, he posted on X, referring to Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi.

Chinese state media reported that Mr. Xi had told SCO Ministers that the organisation must play a “more proactive role” to ensure stability in a “turbulent and changing international landscape”. Most SCO countries, especially China and India, would be affected if U.S. President Donald Trump goes ahead with a planned law imposing 500% tariffs on countries importing Russian oil and sanctioned products.

In his comments during the SCO-CFM, Pakistan Foreign Minister Mr. Dar did not refer to the issue of terrorism. In a post on social media, Mr. Dar said that he “underscored the importance of upholding international law and implementing relevant UNSC resolutions to resolve longstanding disputes”, at the meeting and that Pakistan sought peace with “all its neighbours”.

Referring to Afghanistan, which is an SCO observer state but has not been invited since 2021 when the Taliban regime took control of Kabul, Mr. Jaishankar said that the “compulsions of regional stability are buttressed by [India’s] longstanding concern for the well-being of the Afghan people” and called for SCO members to increase development assistance.

Taking a swipe at Pakistan for closing transit for India-Afghanistan trade, Mr. Jaishankar said that the “lack of assured transit within the SCO space…undermines the seriousness of advocating cooperation in economic areas”, and advocated for the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that runs through Iran.