The ghastly Pahalgam terror attack was not only a blow to India but it was an open challenge to every country that believes in humanity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday.
With Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping listening, Modi also asserted that the SCO must clearly and unanimously reject “double standards” on terrorism.
“This is our duty towards humanity,” he said.
Without naming Pakistan, Modi said it is natural to have the question: “Can the open support of terrorism by some countries be acceptable to us?”.
The prime minister said India has been suffering the brunt of terrorism for the last four decades.
“So many mothers lost their children and so many children became orphans.
Recently, we saw a very disgusting form of terrorism in Pahalgam.”
“This attack was not only a blow to India’s conscience, it was an open challenge to every country, every person who believes in humanity,” he said.
The prime minister said the SCO must act unitedly to deal with terrorism.
“We must clearly and unanimously state that no double standards on terrorism will be acceptable. We must jointly oppose terrorism in all its forms and colours,” he said.
Modi also expressed his gratitude to the friendly countries that stood with India following the Pahalgam attack.
Terrorism, separatism and extremism are major challenges to the peace, prosperity and stability of any nation, he said.
SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure can play a key role in combating terrorism, he said.
The prime minister also touched upon the importance of connectivity.
We believe that sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected in every connectivity effort, he said.
Connectivity that by-passes sovereignty loses trust and meaning, he said.
The prime minister said that SCO members can increase mutual cooperation for reforms in global institutions.
“We can unanimously call for UN reform,” he said.
The prime minister also emphasised ensuring the development of the Global South.
Keeping aspirations of the Global South confined in outdated frameworks is a grave injustice to future generations, he said.
Highlighting India’s development journey, Modi said it is moving ahead with the mantra of “reform, perform and transform”.
Be it Covid or global economic instability, we have tried to convert every challenge into an opportunity, he said.
