At the Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in New Delhi, India has called upon the member states to work together in eliminating terrorism in all its forms.

In his address Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh called on his counterparts from SCO to fix responsibility on those who fund or aid such activities and stated that any kind of terrorist act in any form is a crime against humanity. According to the minister peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with the  menace of terrorism.

From the point of view of security, according to the minister, radicalization of the youth is a cause of concern and is also a major obstacle in the path of socio-economic progress of the society.

While asserting that New Delhi is making efforts to strengthen cooperation among the members, and maintaining peace and security based on the charter of the UN, Singh said that India envisages a robust framework of regional cooperation that respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member states.

Food Crisis, Energy Security & Climate Change

The minister in his address urged the SCO members to ensure food security under an integrated plan as this will establish the grouping as a role model for the world.

And to deal with climate change he asked the members to work on a common strategy in which energy security should be part of it. And priority should be given to adaptation and mitigation.

Collective Prosperity

He called for concerted efforts by the SCO member states, so that the region shifts to the mindset of ‘great gain from win-win paradigm’ from ‘great game of zero sum, win-lose paradigm’.  And elaborated on the concept of ‘SECURE’ which was floated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the SCO summit in Qingdao, China in 2018, as each alphabet reflects India’s commitment towards the multi-dimensional welfare of the region.

As SCO chair India has launched two activities which will increase interoperability among member states and these include a workshop on ‘Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)’ and a seminar on ‘defence think-tanks of SCO countries’.

India is committed towards defence capacity building through co-manufacturing & co-development of items as well as training. He stated that the security challenges are not limited to any one country and keeping in mind shared interests, India is moving forward with a collaborative approach in the field of defence partnership.

And reiterated India’s commitment to play the role of a first responder and preferred partner for any HADR operation in the region.

All the member countries at the end of the deliberations signed a protocol which expressed their collective will to make the region secure, prosperous and peaceful.  

All the member countries of SCO arrived at a consensus on several including terrorism, HADR as well as security of vulnerable populations in various countries, after the meeting the Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane told mediapersons. And all countries were unanimous in their statements that terrorism, in all its forms, must be condemned and eliminated.

Ministers present physically

Russia (General Sergei Shoigu); Iran (Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani); Defence Ministers of China (General Li Shangfu); Kyrgyzstan (Lt Gen Bekbolotov Baktybek Asankalievich); Belarus (Lt Gen Khrenin VG); Kazakhstan (Col Gen Ruslan Zhaxylykov); Uzbekistan (Lt Gen Bakhodir Kurbanov); and Tajikistan (Col Gen Sherali Mirzo). Malik Ahmed Khan, SAPM on Defence Affairs attended SCO Defence Minister’s Conference on behalf of Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif, virtually