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India’s diplomatic isolation grows as it blocks final joint statement at SCO summit
At the end of the summit of defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, India refused to sign the joint statement, complaining of the lack of a clear condemnation of Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism in the wake of the attack in Kashmir on 22 April. The armed clash between the two neighbours in early May opened a new phase of mutual accusations, but for now it is Pakistan that is reaping the benefits internationally.
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New Delhi (AsiaNews) – On Thursday, India refused to sign the joint statement at the end of the summit of defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held in Qingdao (China), thus preventing its release.
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that the decision was linked to the absence of a clear position on cross-border terrorism, in particular that supported by Pakistan.
In his address, Singh criticised “the use of cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy” and called on SCO member countries to avoid “double standards” and strongly condemn it.
He then explicitly mentioned the attack on 22 April in Pahalgam, Indian Kashmir, attributed to an offshoot of the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which prompted New Delhi to launch Operation Sindoor on 7 May, which then exposed some weaknesses in India’s military.
An Indian military official recently also admitted that air force losses were a consequence of the political decision of not attacking Pakistan’s air defence.
Minister Singh reiterated that “Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of non-state actors”.
The minister’s remarks are part of a long series of accusations against Pakistan. For years, India has characterised its neighbour as a “global epicentre of terrorism”, accusing Islamabad of hosting and financing groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, responsible for several attacks in Kashmir.
For its part, Pakistan accuses India of financing armed groups (like Baluchi separatists and the Pakistani Taliban) that carry out daily attacks against government officials and soldiers. The Pakistani military has, for example, accused Indian intelligence of involvement with an attack on a school bus in Khuzdar on 21 May. Similar accusations were made in March for the attack on the Jaffar Express train, which cost the lives of 64 people.
Yesterday, India rejected the accusation of being behind an attack that killed at least 13 Pakistani soldiers in Waziristan, on the border with Afghanistan.
Another accusation against Pakistan came last week at a UN Security Council meeting on the involvement of children in armed conflict.
Indian Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish slammed Pakistan, saying “to preach at this body after such behaviour (shelling border villages) is grossly hypocritical”; for the diplomat, this is a way for Islamabad to divert attention from its own human rights violations and cross-border bombings.
Pakistan, however, claims to have “irrefutable evidence” of Indian involvement in terrorist activities, including the confession of former officer, Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested in 2016 on charges of being a spy.
According to Pakistani authorities, several files presented to the Security Council contain forensic data and wiretaps of alleged contacts between militants and Indian officials.
Jadhav’s imprisonment, who has not been granted consular access as required by international rulings, continues to be one of the many points of friction between the two countries.
After last month’s armed clash with India, Pakistan appears to have emerged as the diplomatic winner. Soon after, Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir met with US President Donald Trump, while India dismissed claims that US mediation led to the end of hostilities.
Pakistan also continues to play a prominent role in the United Nations, where it chairs the UN Taliban Sanctions Committee and serves as vice-chair of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee
US CENTCOM commander General Michael Kurilla also stressed in early June that Pakistan remains a “phenomenal partner in the counter-terrorism world,” citing a series of actions against the local branch of the Islamic State in Khorasan (IS-K).
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04/07/2023 18:57
