No Place For Double Standards: Rajnath Singh Takes A Dig At Pakistan In SCO Meet In China

India

oi-Prakash KL

Updated: Thursday, June 26, 2025, 9:10 [IST]

Defence
Minister
Rajnath
Singh
on
Thursday
took
a
veiled
dig
at
Pakistan
for
using
cross-border
terrorism
as
an
instrument
of
policy.

What
Rajnath
Singh
Said?

Speaking
at
Rajnath
Singh
urges
for
an
end
to
terrorism
at
the
SCO
Defence
Ministers’
meeting
in
China’s
Qingdao,
Singh
stated
that
India
has
zero
tolerance
for
terrorism.

“…Some
countries
use
cross-border
terrorism
as
an
instrument
of
policy
and
provide
shelter
to
terrorists.
There
should
be
no
place
for
such
double
standards.
SCO
should
not
hesitate
to
criticise
such
nations,
” ANI
quoted
the
Defence
Minister
as
saying.

He
spoke
about
the
Pahalgam
terrorist
attack
which
killed
26
civilians
on
April
22.
Singh
said,
“The
Resistance
Front
carried
out
a
dastardly
and
heinous
attack
on
innocent
tourists
at
Pahalgam
in
the
Indian
state
of
Jammu
and
Kashmir.
26
innocent
civilians,
including
a
Nepali
national,
were
killed.
Victims
were
shot
at
after
they
were
profiled
based
on
religious
identity.
The
Resistance
Front
which
is
a
proxy
of
UN
UN-designated
terror
group
Lashkar-e-Taiba,
claimed
responsibility
for
the
attack.”

The
Defence
Minister
stated
that
any
acts
of
terrorism
are
criminal
and
unjustifiable
regardless
of
their
motivation
and
the
SCO
members
must
condemn
this
“evil
unequivocally.” He
reiterated
India’s
stand
on
cross-border
terrorism
and
highlighted
the
need
to
hold
the
perpetrators,
organizers,
financiers
and
sponsors
of
reprehensible
acts
of
terrorism,
including
cross-border
terrorism,
accountable
and
bring
them
to
justice.

Operation
Sindoor

“The
pattern
of
Pahalgam
terror
attack
matches
with
LeT’s
previous
terror
attacks
in
India.
In
exercising
its
right
to
defend
against
terrorism
and
pre-empt
as
well
as
deter
further
cross
border
terrorist
attacks,
India
on
7th
May
2025
successfully
launched
Operation
Sindoor
to
dismantle
cross
border
terrorist
infrastructure,” Defence
Minister
Rajnath
Singh
said.

“India’s
zero
tolerance
for
terrorism
is
manifest
today
through
its
actions.
This
includes
our
right
to
defend
ourselves
against
terrorism.
We
have
shown
that
epicentres
of
terrorism
are
no
longer
safe
and
we
will
not
hesitate
to
target
them,
” says
Defence
Minister
Rajnath
Singh
at
the
SCO
Defence
Ministers’
meeting

Defence
Minister
Rajnath
Singh
added
that
India’s
zero
tolerance
for
terrorism
is
manifest
today
through
its
actions
and
this
includes
their
right
to
defend
themselves
against
terrorism.
He
emphasized
that
they
had
shown
that
epicentres
of
terrorism
were
no
longer
safe
and
they
would
not
hesitate
to
target
them.

“We
should
also
take
proactive
steps
to
prevent
the
spread
of
radicalization
among
our
youth.
The
RATS
mechanism
of
SCO
has
played
a
significant
role
in
this
regard.
The
joint
statement
of
the
Council
of
SCO
Heads
of
State
on
‘Countering
Radicalization
leading
to
Terrorism,
Separatism
and
Extremism’
issued
during
India’s
Chairmanship
symbolises
our
shared
commitment,” stated
Singh.

He
believed
the
biggest
challenges
the
countries
were
facing
in
their
region
were
related
to
peace,
security,
and
trust
deficit.
He
explained
that
the
root
cause
of
these
problems
was
increasing
radicalization,
extremism,
and
terrorism.
He
asserted
that
peace
and
prosperity
could
not
coexist
with
terrorism
and
the
proliferation
of
Weapons
of
Mass
Destruction
in
the
hands
of
non-state
actors
and
terror
groups.
He
concluded
by
stating
that
dealing
with
these
challenges
required
decisive
action
and
they
must
unite
in
their
fight
against
these
evils
for
their
collective
safety
and
security.

Rajnath
Singh
stated
that
India
believed
reformed
multilateralism
could
help
build
cooperation
to
prevent
conflict
between
countries
by
creating
mechanisms
for
dialogue
and
collaboration.
He
emphasized
that
no
country,
however
large
and
powerful,
could
manage
alone.
He
further
explained
that
the
very
idea
of
the
global
order,
or
indeed
of
multilateralism,
was
the
assumption
that
nations
had
to
work
with
each
other
for
their
mutual
and
collective
benefit.
He
concluded
by
mentioning
that
this
was
also
reflective
of
their
age-old
Sanskrit
saying
‘Sarve
Jana
Sukhino
Bhavantu’,
which
implied
peace
and
prosperity
to
all.

The
two-day
SCO
Defence
Ministers’
meeting
is
scheduled
for
June
25-26.
Hosted
by
China
in
the
eastern
city
of
Qingdao,
the
event
is
being
attended
by
defence
ministers
and
senior
officials
from
SCO’s
ten
full
member
states:
India,
China,
Russia,
Pakistan,
Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan,
Uzbekistan,
Iran,
and
new
entrant
Belarus.