External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday defended Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s decision to withhold India’s signature from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) joint statement. Singh, who was attending the defence ministers' meeting in Qingdao, China, refused to endorse the final communique as it omitted any reference to terrorism, 

#WATCH | Delhi: EAM Dr S Jaishankar says, "The SCO was formed with the objective of fighting terrorism. When Rajnath Singh went to the Defence Ministers' Meeting and there was a discussion on the outcome document, one country said they do not want a reference to that. Rajnath… pic.twitter.com/AqL4FFmuUG

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despite terrorism being a core issue for the SCO. Jaishankar explained that one particular country objected to the inclusion of the word “terrorism” in the document, a move he called contradictory to the organisation’s original purpose. Although Jaishankar did not name the country, his indirect reference pointed to Pakistan.

The refusal to sign the statement came amid heightened tensions following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 people dead, mostly tourists. Rajnath Singh criticised the statement’s silence on the incident while noting it mentioned an unrelated hijacking incident in Pakistan. Singh strongly asserted that if terrorism was not addressed in the document, India would not lend its support. At the conclave, he also reiterated India’s firm stance against terrorism and criticised nations that use cross-border terrorism as a policy tool, clearly aiming his remarks at Pakistan.

Adding weight to India’s position, Rajnath Singh praised Operation Sindoor, a military mission launched in response to the Pahalgam attack, which targeted terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. He noted the pattern of the attack was consistent with previous Lashkar-e-Taiba operations. The lack of consensus led to the SCO’s failure to issue a joint statement. Jaishankar emphasized that the SCO works on unanimity, and without acknowledging terrorism, such statements lose their credibility. India has made it clear that terrorism cannot be a negotiable issue in multilateral platforms.