Terror can’t be ‘instrument of state policy’, says Modi at SCO Summit as Pakistan takes over chairship
The 26th Heads of State Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, bringing together leaders of member states including Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan.
India's official statement at the summit called for a unified international position that terrorism cannot be treated as a "strategic asset" or "instrument of state policy," and urged the dismantling of terror financing, recruitment, radicalisation networks and cross-border safe havens.
The statement was made against the backdrop of continuing India-Pakistan tensions following the April 2025 Pahalgam terror attack and India's subsequent Operation Sindoor.
India reaffirmed continued support for Afghanistan's development and humanitarian needs, referencing the October 2025 upgrade of India's mission in Kabul to full embassy status.
Kyrgyzstan handed over the rotating SCO chairship to Pakistan, which will host the next Heads of State Summit.
Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
The SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and security grouping that evolved from the "Shanghai Five" mechanism (1996) into a formal organisation on 15 June 2001 in Shanghai, with the founding members China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its charter, signed in 2002, frames cooperation on security (especially counter-terrorism), economic, cultural and scientific issues.
Bishkek hosted the 2026 summit under Kyrgyzstan's chairship; the presidency has now passed to Pakistan, which will host the 2027 Heads of State Summit — a notable development given that counter-terrorism (the RATS mandate) is a core SCO function and India's statement specifically targeted state-linked terrorism.
India's Counter-Terrorism Diplomacy and Operation Sindoor
India has increasingly used multilateral platforms (SCO, G20, UN) to press the position that cross-border terrorism must be treated as a matter of state accountability, not merely non-state criminal activity. This diplomatic posture hardened after the April 2025 Pahalgam attack and India's military response.
Key Details
- The Pahalgam attack (22 April 2025) killed 26 civilians, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir; The Resistance Front (TRF), linked to Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility.
- India's response, Operation Sindoor (late April–May 2025), involved missile strikes on terror infrastructure inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), including camps linked to Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
- A ceasefire between India and Pakistan was reached on 10 May 2025 following cross-border military exchanges.
- India's position — that states providing shelter, financing, or "plausible deniability" cover to terror groups bear direct responsibility — mirrors the doctrine invoked domestically to justify Operation Sindoor.
India's SCO statement extends this bilateral doctrine to a multilateral forum, seeking to build broader international consensus (including among SCO members with their own counter-terrorism concerns, such as Central Asian states) against states that use terrorism as a policy instrument.
SCO's Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS)
RATS is the SCO's dedicated counter-terrorism body, distinct from the political Secretariat, and is tasked with intelligence-sharing, joint counter-terror exercises and a common database on terrorism, separatism and extremism among member states.
Key Details
- Headquartered in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (as distinguished from the SCO Secretariat in Beijing).
- Operates on the "Shanghai Spirit" principle of mutual trust, mutual benefit and non-interference, which has historically limited RATS' ability to name specific states or groups.
- India joined RATS mechanisms as a full SCO member from 2017, alongside Pakistan.
India's call for concrete action against terror financing and safe havens is aimed, in part, at strengthening the RATS mandate — a live tension given that Pakistan, which India has previously accused of cross-border terrorism, now chairs the organisation housing RATS.
- SCO founded: 15 June 2001, Shanghai; charter signed 2002
- Current SCO membership: 10 states (added India & Pakistan 2017, Iran 2023, Belarus 2024)
- SCO Secretariat: Beijing; RATS Executive Committee: Tashkent
- Pahalgam attack: 22 April 2025, 26 killed
- Operation Sindoor: late April–May 2025; India-Pakistan ceasefire from 10 May 2025
- India upgraded its Kabul mission to embassy status: October 2025
- 2026 summit venue: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; SCO chairship passes to Pakistan for the following year