The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting concluded without a joint statement on Thursday after India refused to endorse the document, citing the omission of the Pahalgam terror attack and the inclusion of references to Balochistan. The diplomatic stalemate highlights deepening fractures within the Eurasian security bloc, with Pakistan hailing the outcome as a strategic victory while India faced isolation over its stance.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh demanded explicit condemnation of cross-border terrorism and acknowledgment of the April 22 Pahalgam attack, which killed 26 tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. India attributes the attack to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a Pakistan-based UN-designated terror group. The draft statement, however, excluded this incident while indirectly accusing India of fueling unrest in Balochistan—a claim New Delhi rejects as baseless. Singh asserted that “peace cannot coexist with terrorism” and condemned “double standards” in counter-terrorism, a veiled reference to Pakistan.
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif secured a critical win by ensuring the statement condemned “terrorism in Balochistan,” reflecting Islamabad’s allegations of Indian interference. Asif reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to regional stability and cited the detention of Kulbhushan Jadhav—an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage—as evidence of “state-sponsored terrorism". He also condemned the Pahalgam attack but stressed that blaming Pakistan without evidence was unacceptable.
China, the summit host, faced criticism for backing Pakistan’s narrative. The stalemate exposed SCO’s struggle to balance member interests amid escalating India-Pakistan tensions following recent military clashes, including India’s Operation Sindoor strikes in May. The bloc’s failure to issue a joint statement undermines its role as a counterweight to Western alliances like NATO, which had just secured a defense-spending pact a day earlier.
India’s isolation was evident as no SCO member supported its push to link Pahalgam to Pakistan. The outcome reinforces Pakistan’s diplomatic alignment with China and Russia, whose Defence Minister Andrei Belousov praised Sino-Russian ties as “historically exceptional”. Analysts warn the deadlock could weaken SCO’s counter-terrorism cohesion, particularly as Afghanistan’s instability looms.