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The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) counter-terrorism arm on Wednesday strongly condemned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, echoing India’s call for an uncompromising fight against terrorism.
The condemnation came at the 44th meeting of the SCO’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), held in Cholpon-Ata, Kyrgyz Republic, under Kyrgyzstan’s Chairmanship. The attack was also denounced in the Tianjin Declaration, adopted at the SCO Summit on September 1, which gathered Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
India’s delegation, led by Deputy National Security Adviser T.V. Ravichandran, pressed for accountability.
“Sponsors, organisers, and financiers of the Pahalgam attack must be held accountable. We must shun double standards and fight terrorism in all forms and manifestations,” Ravichandran told the forum.
Prime Minister Modi had set the tone earlier at the September 1 SCO Summit, where – speaking in the presence of his Pakistani counterpart -he called the Pahalgam assault “disgusting” and warned that tacit support for terrorism by some countries threatens every SCO member.
The Tianjin Declaration reinforced this stance, stressing the need to combat the cross-border movement of terrorists. It aligned with India’s position that perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack must face justice and that selective approaches to terrorism are unacceptable.
The April 22 attack, which India blames on Pakistan-based groups, triggered a sharp military response: New Delhi launched strikes on terrorist infrastructure across the border in May, leading to four days of hostilities before both sides agreed to de-escalate on May 10.
With RATS increasingly central to regional counter-terror cooperation, New Delhi has used the platform to push its argument that terror sanctuaries and state sponsorship must be confronted head-on, without exception.
Team BharatShakti
