Rajnath refuses to sign SCO draft silent on Pahalgam

DEFENCE MINISTERS OF the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, meeting in Qingdao in China, failed to issue a joint statement on Thursday after defence minister Rajnath Singh declined to sign the draft statement which omitted a reference to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in J&K.

- AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA & SHUBHAJIT ROY

Government sources said that the document, while leaving out the reference to the Pahalgam attack, mentioned the hijacking of the Jaffar Express by the Balochistan Liberation Army in March — Pakistan has been struggling to contain the unrest in the Balochistan province.

According to the sources, no joint statement was issued because Singh refused to sign the draft statement, protesting the absence of a common standard for terrorism.

Stating that the defence minister participated in the two-day SCO meeting, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs, confirmed the development and said, "I understand that they could not adopt a joint statement."