India has refused to sign a joint statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, China, after its key concerns on terrorism—particularly the recent Pahalgam terror attack—were left out of the final communique.
India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took a firm stance, declining to endorse the document, which sources say ignored the April 22 attack that killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. The omission, Singh argued, diluted the SCO’s core mission to combat terrorism.
“Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists. There should be no place for such double standards,” Singh said, without directly naming Pakistan, which India has blamed for the Pahalgam attack. Pakistan has denied involvement.
The draft communique did, however, include reference to the March 11 hijacking of Pakistan’s Jaffar Express train by the Balochistan Liberation Army—leading Indian officials to accuse SCO members of tilting the narrative in Pakistan’s favour.
India perceived this as a clear bias. “When the main purpose of the organisation is to fight terrorism, and you are not allowing a reference to that, we will not sign,” said India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, who later backed Singh’s decision.
The SCO, formed in 2001 by China, Russia, and Central Asian countries, functions on consensus. India and Pakistan joined in 2017. Singh’s refusal to sign means the SCO defence ministers’ meeting ended without a joint declaration—an unusual outcome that reflects growing tensions.
The controversy follows heightened India-Pakistan hostilities after the Pahalgam attack, with India launching airstrikes on what it called terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Pakistan retaliated with missile and drone incursions. A US-brokered ceasefire was announced on May 10.
India’s rejection of the SCO document is being viewed as a diplomatic pushback against what it sees as China and Pakistan’s attempt to shape regional narratives. The decision also signals India’s unwillingness to compromise on terrorism-related concerns within multilateral forums.
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