Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday called upon the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to unitedly fight against terrorism and eliminate the menace in all its forms.
He also said Afghanistan territory should not be used as launching pads for terrorist activities. Expressing India’s concern on the situation in Ukraine, he said New Delhi supports talks between Russia and Ukraine to resolve this crisis. Underlining these points during his address at the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting at Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Rajnath asserted that terrorism in any form, including cross-border terrorism, committed by anyone and for whatever purpose, is a crime against humanity.
“Terrorism is one of the most serious challenges to global peace and security. India reiterates its resolve to fight all forms of terrorism and make the region peaceful, secure and stable.
We seek to develop joint institutional capabilities with the SCO member states, which, while respecting the sensitivities of each country, create the spirit of cooperation among individuals, societies and nations,” he said.
In this context, Rajnath proposed to host a workshop in India in 2023 on the theme ‘Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief - Risk mitigation and Disaster Resilient Infrastructure’ for the Defence Ministries of SCO Member States.
He also suggested an annual seminar on ‘Topic of Interest’ among the defence think tanks of SCO countries and propose to organise the first such defence think tank seminar in India in 2023.
As regards Afghanistan, the defence minister voiced India’s full support to a peaceful, secure and stable Afghanistan, while emphasising to respect its sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity, national unity and non-interference in internal affairs. He urged all parties to encourage Afghanistan authorities to achieve national reconciliation through dialogue and negotiation and establish a broad-based, inclusive and representative political structure in the country.
He underlined the importance of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions in this regard.Rajnath said the Afghan territory must not be used to intimidate or attack any country by providing safe havens and training to terrorists and supporting their activities through financial assistance.
He stressed on the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan and safeguard their fundamental rights.
He invited all the SCO Member States to visit India next year when New Delhi takes over the presidency of the Organisation from Uzbekistan.
Rajnath met Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu on Wednesday on the sidelines of the SCO meet and conveyed his deep appreciation and thanks for arresting in Moscow a terrorist who was planning attacks in India. On Tuesday, he had held bilateral meetings with his Uzbek, Kazakh and Belarusian counterparts. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO summit in Tashkent in September and is likely to meet Chinese President and Pakistan Prime Minister on the sidelines of the summit.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend the meet.