New Delhi/Bishkek: India and Pakistan traded veiled barbs at each other at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan on Friday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that “responsibility should be fixed on nations that inspire, support and finance terrorism” while his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan singled out “state terrorism against people under illegal occupation”, an oblique reference to Pakistani accusations against India on Kashmir.
In his address at the SCO summit in the presence of leaders including Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr Modi said, “Last Sunday, during my visit to Sri Lanka, I went to St. Antony’s Church. There I saw the terrible face of terrorism that can happen anywhere and take the lives of innocents. All humanitarian forces should step out of their confines and tackle this menace.”
“Responsibility should be fixed on nations that inspire, support and finance terrorism. In order to wipe out terrorism, SCO member countries should use the full might of the SCO-RATS (regional anti-terrorist structure). In order to tackle terrorism, India calls for the convening of an international conference to discuss measures to tackle terrorism,” said Modi.
Apart from the issue of terrorism, Mr Modi, in his address, also spoke about connectivity projects in which New Delhi is participating in, such as the development of Chabahar port in Iran. Coining an acronym for “Health” as various aspects of cooperation within the SCO, Modi said H stood for healthcare cooperation, E for economic cooperation, A for alternative energy, L for literature and culture, T for a terrorism-free society and H for humanitarian cooperation.
In his address Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said, “Growing intolerance and Islamophobia are threatening to accentuate fault-lines between religions. For its part, Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism against people under illegal occupation. We are among thefew countries to have successfully turned the tide against terrorism at a heavy cost both to our soldiers and population.”
