India, Pakistan demand action against international terrorism at Shanghai meet

Beijing: India and Pakistan on Tuesday struck a rare united stand to forge collective action to curb terrorism at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) meeting in China where New Delhi also called on Islamabad to end cross-border terrorism and external interference in Afghanistan. [caption id=“attachment_1444547” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  VK Singh. File photo AFP[/caption] “Many of the problems confronting our region, especially the rising tide of cross-border terrorism and extremism, require trans-national solutions,” Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh said while speaking at the SCO’s heads of government meeting in central China’s Zhengzhou city. “International terrorism has emerged as the most serious threat to our peaceful and pluralistic societies. Terrorism threatens to derail our developmental aspirations and undermine our very way of life,” Singh said as he sought close cooperation among SCO member states and zero tolerance towards terrorism to curb the menace. “Political convenience can no longer provide an alibi for backing terrorist groups ideologically, financially or through material support. Today, the world has realised that there are no good terrorists,” he said, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, whose Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was also present. India and Pakistan are observers in the six-member SCO grouping of China, Russia and central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Both India and Pakistan are set to join as regular members of the SCO, which has formally approved their membership in the previous leaders’ meeting at the Russian city of Ufa. In a veiled reference to Pakistan, Gen Singh called for an end to external interference in Afghanistan. “One of our most important goals remains a stable and peaceful Afghanistan free of external interference. This is absolutely essential to advance peace, stability and prosperity in the region,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2442916” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nawaz Sharif. File photo AFP[/caption] In his speech, Sharif asked the SCO members to join forces and develop comprehensive strategies to collectively confront the challenges of extremism and terrorism. “The security situation around us remains precarious. We are seeing the threat to state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Armed conflicts continue to rage in several parts of the world unleashing forces, which are beyond the control of anyone,” Pakistan’s state-run APP news agency quoted him as saying in his address at the SCO meeting. Noting that “terrorism remained a serious threat and in fact become even more insidious”, he said militant ideologies needed to be countered. Sharif said the SCO has a special role to play in promoting peace and regional stability. He also referred to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPEC) project over which India has conveyed its protests to China as it goes through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Sharif said Pakistan supported the one belt and one road initiative of President XI Jinping and remained committed to making CEPEC Project a “resounding success”. Singh said the SCO decision at the July summit in Ufa to admit India as a member reflects the desire of member states to significantly widen the scope of the organisation. “India’s membership will create a broader framework for SCO that brings together, for the first time in history, countries of Central, East and South Asia as well as Russia, into a Eurasian regional cooperation entity,” he said. He also said fast-growing India has offered enormous opportunities for SCO’s economic and developmental agenda. “India’s fast growing market provides an immense economic opportunity, especially for the relatively smaller economies of Central Asia. India’s energy requirements can be met by new and more ambitious energy projects within the SCO bringing on board the interests of energy exporting, transit and importing nations,” he said. “On its part, India can bring to the region its strengths in financial management, especially micro-finance, pharmaceuticals, services such as IT and healthcare, as well as capacity building,” he said. “The SCO should create a facilitating environment for trade and investment. We should bring down barriers to trade and enhance links between our businesses, especially our small and medium enterprises. We can also work together on issues of food security and agriculture,” he said. “As we move ahead, we should invest in improving regional transportation and communication networks through mutual consultation and sharing of benefits. On this basis, we can create new networks of physical and digital connectivity that extends from Russia’s northern regions to the shores of Indian Ocean. The International North South Transportation Corridor is an important step in that direction,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_1801247” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Reuters[/caption] “A young and dynamic India, constituting one-sixth of humanity, which is growing at nearly eight percent per year is joining the SCO to usher in a new phase of friendship with our partners. India recognises that its extraordinary opportunities can be fulfilled faster and more fully through an active engagement within its shared neighbourhood,” he said. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who presided over the meeting, proposed that SCO should establish six platforms for cooperation in areas including security, production capacity and connectivity. He also said SCO countries should forge financial cooperation, regional trade cooperation and cooperation on social affairs and improving people’s lives. The SCO should cement the existing security cooperation mechanism, accelerate an agreement on border defence cooperation, move toward an anti-extremism pact and support Afghanistan’s national reconciliation process, Li said. He said the platform could provide a reliable “safe environment” for regional development. Li called for improving the financial cooperation mechanism. He also sought a steady expansion of the SCO Interbank Consortium, which will fund large projects. China will consider the establishment of SCO development bank with related parties when the time is ripe, while promoting the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank for the Brics to support SCO members’ projects, Li said. China has provided USD 27.1 billion of credit line to SCO members. The China-Eurasia Economic Cooperation Fund, which aims to support SCO members, observers and dialogue partners, has launched investment in its first group of projects, he said. The meeting was attended by Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Karim Masimov, Kyrgyz Prime Minister Temir Sariyev, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and First Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Rustam Azimov. PTI