Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday during his virtual address to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting said terrorism has become a threat to regional and global peace while “decisive action” is needed to deal with it.
PM Modi made these remarks during his address to SCO which is being attended by China's President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders.
“Terrorism has become a threat to regional, global peace. There is a need for decisive action to deal with it,” he said, according to new agency PTI.
He added: “Some countries use cross-border terrorism as instrument in sync with their policy. SCO must not hesitate to criticise such countries."
Modi said “we must expand mutual cooperation to deal with terror financing”.
“We have to fight together against terrorism that may be in any form or manifestation,” he said.
On the occasion he also said India's concerns and expectations regarding Afghanistan are similar to those of most SCO countries.
Modi also made a reference to Eurasia in his speech.
“SCO has emerged as key platform for peace, prosperity, development of Eurasia. India's thousands of years old cultural and people-to-people ties with Eurasia living testimony to our shared heritage,” he said.
He added: “as chair of SCO, India has made sustained efforts to take our multifaceted cooperation to new heights.”
He also said food, fuel and fertiliser crisis is a big challenge for all countries in the world surrounded by controversies, tensions and epidemics.
Modi also said he is happy over Iran joining SCO as new member.
SCO has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organizations, with a significant focus on economic and security matters.
India assumed the rotating chairmanship of the SCO at the Samarkand Summit on September 16 last year.
The SCO virtual summit will also be attended by heads of the SCO secretariat and the SCO RATS (Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure).
Xi Jinping Targets US
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on the SCO member countries to safeguard regional peace and ensure common security besides focussing on pragmatic cooperation to speed up economic recovery.
In a veiled criticism of the United States, Xi called for opposing hegemonism and power politics and making the system of global governance fairer and more equitable.
He also made a pitch for the SCO members to synergise high-quality cooperation under his pet multi-billion dollar project the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with various countries' development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives.
The BRI is a multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by President Xi when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
The USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the flagship project of the BRI.
India's stand on CPEC and BRI
India has strongly protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
India is also critical of the BRI, which drew global concerns over China's debt diplomacy of extending huge loans to smaller countries for unsustainable infrastructure projects.
