India Rejects Hollow Consensus

India's decision to abstain from endorsing the joint communique at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' Conclave in Qingdao is more than a diplomatic divergence-it is a firm rejection of hollow consensus built on evasive language and moral compromise.

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At the core of this move lies a resolute message: India refuses to validate any forum that remains wilfully blind to the menace of terrorism, especially when its own citizens continue to suffer from cross-border attacks.

The Defence Minister's refusal to sign the declaration was not symbolic-it was a clear protest against the glaring omission of the Pahalgam terror attack, a brutal assault that not only claimed innocent lives but also struck at the core of communal harmony. That a security-focused summit could gloss over such an atrocity, even while issuing statements on peace and stability, only underscores the superficiality of such declarations.