The channel of finances for terrorist activities must be blocked without any distinction and terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism, must be stopped, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday at a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here in presence of his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.
\nIn his address at the SCO Council of foreign Ministers\u2019 meeting, Jaishankar said taking the eyes off terrorism would be detrimental to the security interests of the grouping and that when the world was engaged in facing COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, the menace of terrorism continued unabated, in an apparent reference to Pakistan.
\nThe external affairs minister, chairing the conclave, said India firmly believes that there can be no justification for terrorism and noted that combating the menace is one of the original mandates of the SCO.
\n\u201cWe must not allow anybody \u2014 individual or State \u2014 to hide behind non-State actors,\u201d he said.
\nJaishankar also underlined that while connectivity is key to progress, it must come with respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member states.
\nThe meeting at a luxury hotel in this beach resort was attended by Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang, Russia\u2019s Sergey Lavrov and their counterparts from other SCO member nations.
\nJaishankar also delved into the situation in Afghanistan and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the consequences of geo-political upheavals that impacted supplies of energy, food and fertilisers.
\n\u201cTaking our eyes off the menace would be detrimental to our security interests. We firmly believe that there can be no justification for terrorism and it must be stopped in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism,\u201d Jaishankar said.
\n\u201cThe channel of finances for terrorist activities must be seized and blocked without distinction. Members need not be reminded that combating terrorism is one of the original mandates of the SCO,\u201d he added.
\nOn Afghanistan, he said the unfolding situation in that country remains at \u201ccentre of our attention\u201d.
\n\u201cOur efforts should be directed towards the welfare of the Afghan people. Our immediate priorities include providing humanitarian assistance, ensuring a truly inclusive and representative government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking and preserving the rights of women, children and minorities,\u201d he said.
\nIn his remarks, Bhutto-Zardari said the \u201ccollective security of our peoples is our joint responsibility. Terrorism continues to threaten global security,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cLet\u2019s not get caught up in weaponising terrorism for diplomatic point scoring,\u201d he said, in remarks that appeared to take a pot-shot at the Indian side.
\n\u201cWhen I speak on this topic, I do so not only as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan whose people have suffered the most in terms of number of attacks and number of casualties. I also speak as the son whose mother was assassinated at the hands of terrorists,\u201d the Pakistan foreign minister said.
\nFormer Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a suicide bomber in Rawalpindi in 2007.
\nBhutto-Zardari said he and his country are firmly committed to be part of regional and global efforts for eradicating terrorism.
\n\u201cThis requires not only a comprehensive approach but also a collective approach. It demands we address the root causes as well as the threats posed by specific groups. It requires that we let this challenge unite us to fight it rather than divide us to become its victim. Our success requires us to isolate this issue from geo-political partisanship,\u201d he added.
\nIn his address, Jaishankar noted that current crises facing the world have exposed a credibility and trust deficit in the ability of global institutions to manage challenges in a timely and effective manner. He said reform and modernisation of the SCO will aid a more contemporary outlook which India will actively support.
\nThe external affairs minister also noted the progress for the admission of Iran and Belarus as full member states of the SCO.
\nHe also said that constructive steps are being taken to make English the third official language of SCO. Currently, Chinese and Russian are the two official languages of the SCO.
\nJaishankar also appreciated the support of member countries for India\u2019s proposal of creation of two new working groups on startups and innovation and traditional medicine.
\nIn his address, the Pakistan foreign minister, talking about the challenge of terrorism, also said that practical and pragmatic solutions exist to put an end to \u201cthis chapter once and for all\u201d.
\n\u201cWe must stop conflating non-state actors with state actors. Condemn all forms of terrorism including state sponsored terrorism,\u201d he added.
\nBhutto-Zardari also called upon \u201cinterim Afghan authorities\u201d to uphold their commitments on not allowing the use of Afghan soil for terrorism.
\nThe Pakistan foreign minister also made a special mention of the \u201ccommendable role\u201d China has recently played in bridging differences between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
\n\u201cWe must ensure respect for these universally recognised principles within the SCO. Unilateral and illegal measures by States in violation of international law and Security Council resolutions run counter to the SCO objectives,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe need to be unambiguous in keeping our commitments and charting out a new future for our people. One that is not based on conflict preservation but on conflict resolution,\u201d he said.
\nThe SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations.
\nThe SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
\nIndia and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
\nIndia was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.
\nIndia has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The channel of finances for terrorist activities must be blocked without any distinction and terrorism in all its forms, including cross-border terrorism, must be stopped, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday at a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) here in presence of his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari. In his address at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":10829,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-latest-news","category-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10828"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10830,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10828\/revisions\/10830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jammukashmirhighlights.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}