SCO Statement on Terror, Pahalgam: Win for India, Cover for Pakistan and a Diplomatic Tug-of-War

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Tianjin summit declaration of 1 September noted, “Member States strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April, 2025”.Indian commentators have taken satisfaction at this unequivocal denunciation of this heinous act of terrorist violence, which led to 26 deaths of innocent tourists. Except for one brave Kashmiri who gave up his life while taking on the terrorists, the rest of the victims were killed on a religious basis. The gratification of Indian analysts is all the more because Pakistan had opposed a reference to the Pahalgam attack during the SCO Defence Ministers meeting in June, that had led Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to refuse to go along with Pakistan’s position. Hence, the meeting went without the traditional final statement. Clearly, the Pahalgam formulation implies that the Chinese would have made it known to Pakistan that as a condemnation of the Pahalgam attack was an Indian red line they would have to agree with it.They would not have wanted a repeat at the summit level of what had happened at the Defence Minister's meeting.The Real Winner of the India-Pakistan Conflict May Be ChinaIt would be wrong, however, to interpret that the Pakistanis did not get anything in return for their endorsement of the condemnation of the Pahalgam attack—even though it would have been galling for them to climb down from their June position.To get the full picture of how the Tianjin summit has treated this India-Pakistan difference, it is necessary to go to the declaration text regarding terrorist attacks and derive accurate and sober conclusions. Immediately following the condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack, the Tianjin Declaration states, “Member States also strongly condemned the terrorist attack on Jaffar express on 11 March and in Khuzdar on 21 May, 2025. They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the dead and the wounded. They further stated that the perpetrators, organisers. and sponsors of such attacks must be brought to justice.”The Declaration goes on to assert “The Member States, while reaffirming their firm commitment to the fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism, stress the inadmissibility of attempts to use terrorist, separatist and extremist groups for mercenary purposes. They recognise the leading role of Sovereign states and their competent authorities in countering terrorist and extremist threats.”Taken as a whole, the Declaration maintains a complete neutrality in condemning these terrorist incidents in India and Pakistan and in expressing sympathy. As both countries are members of the SCO, nothing else could have been expected of the group. So, where did China lean on Pakistan to bring in this neutrality?It did so on two issues: First, it asked it to ignore that India had launched Operation Sindoor because of the Pahalgam attack. Indeed, in pressing Pakistan on this, it also overlooked its own disapproval of Operation Sindoor; its objections were openly voiced.Second, in response to a question the Spokesperson of the Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on 23 April, “We are concerned at the loss of tourist lives in an attack in Anantnag district of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir [IOJK]. We extend our condolences to the near ones of the deceased and the injured speedy recovery”. [The author wishes to unequivocally state that the formulation IOJK is completely unacceptable as the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the Indian Union and will so remain].The purpose of quoting the Pakistan spokesperson’s exact words is to show that, in persuading Pakistan to go along with simply Pahalgam without the caveat of IOJK, the Chinese may have had to use considerable pressure.This is especially because it is believed that at the Defence Ministers meeting, the Pakistanis had refused to go along with merely mentioning Pahalgam without the caveat of its ‘disputed’ location.The second issue where the Chinese may have had to push Pakistan was in going along with the word ‘condemn’ when they had, in their initial statement, merely expressed ‘concern’. Indeed, within a few days of their spokesperson’s comment, Pakistani military and civilian leaders were accusing India that the Pahalgam attack was a false flag operation! This only showed the sick and obsessed official mind of the Pakistan. India–China at 75: Why a Cold, Calculated Peace May be Only Way Forward India would have satisfaction that what it has urged the international community for three decades finds mention in the Declaration. This relates to necessity for states not to use terrorism as state policy either directly or through sponsors. However, here again, it would be open for Pakistan to claim that its case against its neighbours sponsoring terrorism has been upheld in the Declaration.It is obvious that China, as a host, persuaded Pakistan to relent on some matters, as mentioned by this writer. At the same time, it provided it with enough cover to justify many of the propositions on terrorism to its own people. During his media briefing on 31 August, after the Modi-Xi Jinping briefing, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said inter alia, “Cross-border terrorism was mentioned by the Prime Minister as a priority. And, I would add that he did underline the fact that this is something that impacts both India and China. And, that it's important, therefore, that we extend understanding and support to each other as both of us combat cross-border terrorism. And I would in fact like to say that we have received the understanding and cooperation of China as we have dealt with the issue of cross-border terrorism in the context of the ongoing SCO summit”. It is strange that at their meeting, Modi told Xi Jinping that China too was a victim of cross border terrorism. This needs a clarification from the MEA, for India has perhaps never said that China has suffered from cross-border terrorism. Also, China really did a balancing act by providing Pakistan enough cover so that it could claim that the Declaration also met its core concerns on the terrorism it faces from its neighbours.In the light of this assessment, it is difficult to understand what “understanding and cooperation of China” India received as it “dealt with the issue of cross-border terrorism in the context of the ongoing SCO summit". This, too, needs to be urgently clarified. (The writer is a former Secretary [West], Ministry of External Affairs. He can be reached @VivekKatju. This is an opinion piece, and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)

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Why SCO’s Statement on Pahalgam is Both a Win and a Compromise for India

It would be wrong to say Pakistan did not get anything in return for endorsing the Pahalgam attack condemnation.

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Topics: China Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit