PM Modi Issues Strong Statement On Terrorism At SCO Meeting Attended By Shehbaz Sharif

There is no solution on the battlefield and all wars and conflicts should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Tuesday while addressing the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan. The summit comes amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, which has disrupted global energy supply lines and affected economies well beyond the region, adding a note of urgency to discussions among the bloc's member states on peace, security and regional stability.

Speaking in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Modi also called for a united global approach to fighting terrorism, describing it as a "grave challenge to all of humanity" and stressing that the response to it cannot be limited to a mindset of mere "action-reaction." "We must speak with one voice that there can be no place for double standards on terrorism," he said in the same hall where his Pakistani counterpart, Shehbaz Sharif, was present. "We must dismantle the entire ecosystem of terrorism, its financing, recruitment, radicalisation and safe havens," Modi added, asserting further that terrorism "cannot be a strategic asset for anyone."

Modi's comments were widely read as a direct reference to Pakistan's longtime policy of supporting terror groups that have targeted India. The killings of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by Pakistan-linked terrorists last year had drawn a major military response from India in the form of Operation Sindoor, during which Indian cruise missiles and drones struck infrastructure deep inside Pakistan used for training terrorists and targeting Pakistani military assets. Modi has made similar remarks at previous SCO gatherings attended by Sharif, having told the bloc's leaders at last year's summit in Tianjin that "double standards on terrorism are unacceptable" and posing the pointed question of whether "the open support for terrorism by certain countries" could ever be considered acceptable.

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Beyond the remarks on terrorism, Modi also addressed the broader security backdrop shaping this year's summit, including the situation in Afghanistan and the ongoing crisis in West Asia. On the sidelines of the summit, Modi held bilateral discussions with Putin, during which he reiterated India's position on the Ukraine conflict. "We have consistently discussed the issue of Ukraine. When we met previously, you briefed me in detail on all aspects of the matter. As you know, India supports all efforts towards peace and will continue to do so," Modi told the Russian president.

The 26th SCO Summit, hosted this year by Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov, brought together an expanded lineup of leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, alongside Modi, Xi, Putin and Sharif. With a combined membership of 10 countries representing roughly a quarter of global GDP, the SCO has increasingly served as a venue where India and Pakistan trade veiled criticisms even while sharing the same multilateral platform, a dynamic that has played out repeatedly at past summits and was once again on display in Bishkek as Modi delivered his remarks with Sharif seated in the same hall.

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