New Delhi: After his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi’s veiled reference to his country, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said the ‘hydra-headed monster’ of terrorism and extremism must be fought with full vigour and conviction. While addressing the 23rd meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State (CHS) hosted by India in a virtual format, Sharif said the terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms.
“The hydra-headed monster of terrorism and extremism — whether committed by individuals, societies or states — must be fought with full vigour and conviction. Any temptation to use it as a cudgel for diplomatic point-scoring must be avoided under all circumstances,” he said.
“Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including state terrorism, must be condemned in clear and unambiguous terms. There can be no justification for the killing of innocent people regardless of the cause or pretext,” the Pakistan PM added.
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He noted that while the sacrifices made by Pakistan in fighting the scourge of terrorism were without a parallel, the phenomenon continued to plague the region and was a ‘serious obstacle’ to peace and stability. Sharif also talked about the three evils of terrorism, extremism and separatism and urged the SCO countries to take concerted and immediate actions, both in their national and collective capacity, to combat them.
He also tried to rake up the Kashmir issue and highlighted the importance of UN resolutions to address the long overdue disputes.
PM Narendra Modi’s veiled attack on Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif’s statement came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told leaders of the SCO nations that the grouping ‘must not hesitate’ to criticise countries supporting cross-border terrorism as an instrument of state policy and that there must not be any ‘double standards’ in combating terrorist activities.
With Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin listening, Modi also said that ‘decisive action’ is required to deal with terrorism and terror financing.
“Terrorism remains a major threat to regional and global peace. Decisive action is necessary to meet this challenge. Terrorism may be in any form, in any manifestation and we have to fight together against it,” he said.
“Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policies; give shelter to terrorists. The SCO should not hesitate to criticise such countries. There should be no room for double standards on such a serious issue,” he added.
While chairing the summit, he also talked about the growing importance of the SCO and said, “It is our shared responsibility to understand each other’s needs and sensitivities and resolve all challenges through better cooperation and coordination.”
PM Modi also spoke on Afghanistan and said the situation there has a ‘direct impact on the security of all of us’ and that it is important to ensure that Afghan territory is not used to destabilise neighbouring countries or to encourage extremist ideologies.
The virtual summit under India’s presidency was attended by leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Iran as well.
It is notable that the SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Subsequently, Pakistan became its permanent member along with India in 2017.