'No whitewashing': India demands 'zero tolerance' on terror at SCO meeting

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday urged member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation to adopt “zero tolerance” toward terrorism, telling the SCO Council of Heads of Government that the threat has only grown since the bloc’s creation.

- MPOST BUREAU

“It is imperative that the world displays zero tolerance towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. There can be no justification, no looking away and no whitewashing,” Jaishankar said in his address. He added that India retains “the right to defend our people against terrorism and will exercise it.”

The SCO was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the presidents of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. India and Pakistan joined as permanent members in 2017, and Iran became the newest permanent member at an India-hosted virtual summit in July 2023. Jaishankar reminded the gathering that the organisation was originally built “to combat the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism”, noting that these threats have become “even more serious” over time.