Jaishankar says SCO outcome document without reference to terrorism not acceptable to India

Union External Affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India wanted a reference to terrorism in the outcome document of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting, but it was not acceptable to one member country, an oblique reference to Pakistan.

Jaishankar said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's view on the matter was right since the main purpose of SCO was to fight terrorism and without a reference on it (on India's concerns on terrorism), he would not accept the outcome document.

Singh on Thursday refused to sign a joint communique of the SCO following the omission of the Pahalgam terror attack and not explicitly addressing India's concerns over Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.

At a conference of SCO defence ministers' conclave, Singh demanded inclusion of the terror attack in the communique while the Pakistani side pressed for having a paragraph on militant activities in Balochistan in an apparent attempt to blame New Delhi, top sources said.

The objective of SCO that runs through consensus was to fight terrorism, Jaishankar said in a press conference when asked about Singh's stand.

"In the discussion on outcome document of the defence ministers' meeting, one country -- you can guess which one -- said 'no we don't want reference to that'," he said.

The SCO runs by unanimity, Jaishankar said, but when one country said it will not accept any mention of terrorism, Singh communicated that the outcome document was not acceptable to India.