With ministers and top officials of China, Pakistan and other countries present, India's foreign minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday spoke directly about the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism, at a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in China's Tianjin.
He underlined how in Kashmir's Pahalgam, in April this year, “India witnessed a graphic example” of terror.
The Indian foreign minister's stern comments came after a statement earlier in the day by his Pakistan counterpart stressed “brotherly” relations with China.
Jaishankar, though not naming Pakistan as such, said the Pahalgam attack was “deliberately conducted to undermine the tourism economy of Jammu and Kashmir, while sowing a religious divide”.
According to Jaishankar's X post, at the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting he highlighted that the UN Security Council issued a statement that condemned the Pahalgam attack “in the strongest terms”.
“[It] underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“[It] underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice. We have since done exactly that and will continue doing so,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}India conducted Operation Sindoor to strike at terror hubs inside Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack — part of its renewed strategy not to differentiate between the terorists and their backers.
“It is imperative that the SCO, to remain true to its founding objectives, take an uncompromising position on this challenge,” Jaishankar urged the group.
The 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping has China, Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Belarus as members.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan's deputy PM and foreign minister Ishaq Dar said he was "delighted" to meet Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
"As iron-clad brothers and All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partners, we remain committed to deepening Pak-China enduring friendship and advancing shared regional goals," Dar's said in a post on X.