NEW DELHI, Aug 26: India on Tuesday said it expects the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to strongly condemn cross-border terrorism at its annual summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin next week, comments that came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China.
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Modi will begin a four-day visit to Japan and China from August 29 to September 1.
In the first leg of his trip, he will travel to Tokyo to hold the annual India-Japan summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The two Prime Ministers will also meet outside Tokyo as well.
After concluding his trip to Japan, Modi will visit Tianjin to participate in the SCO summit on August 31 and September 1.
At a joint media briefing with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry, Tanmaya Lal, said New Delhi is working with other SCO member nations and partners to ensure strong condemnation of terrorism in the summit declaration.
“The SCO was established with the primary goal of countering three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism, which continue to remain a challenge,” he said.
Lal said the security of the region remains a priority for the SCO members and recalled a joint statement on countering radicalisation, extremism and terrorism that was adopted during India’s presidency of the grouping in 2023.
“In the past, there have been strong condemnations of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism, in the statements that have been finalised, including the joint statement that I referred to, which was finalised during our presidency of the summit,” he said.
“As far as the declaration at this (upcoming) summit is concerned, that is under finalisation — the text. We are working with other members and partners to see that there should be a reiteration of the strong condemnation of terrorism, including cross-border terrorism. But the text is under finalisation,” he said.
Lal’s comments came in response to a question on how the SCO will deal with the threat of terrorism. (PTI)
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