SCO Bishkek Declaration reflects India's counter-terror priorities: MEA

India said its priorities found reflection in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Bishkek Declaration, adopted at the grouping’s summit on Tuesday, as New Delhi highlighted 13 key outcomes, including measures to strengthen cooperation against terrorism and other transnational security threats. The declaration reflected India’s emphasis on combating terrorism, strengthening youth and scientific cooperation, and promoting dialogue based on the idea of "One Earth. One Family. One Future," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. The member states reaffirmed their commitment to combating terrorism, separatism and extremism and stressed the inadmissibility of attempts to exploit terrorist, separatist and extremist groups for mercenary purposes, it said.
They also strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, emphasising that "double standards" in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable, and called for international efforts to combat terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists, it said. The MEA listed 13 outcomes, one of which was the approval of regulations for a "Universal Centre for Countering Challenges and Threats to the Security of SCO Member States".
Among the 13 outcomes highlighted by the MEA is the Bishkek Declaration, which is expected to provide India a platform to articulate its positions on regional security, development and connectivity, and strengthen its engagement with Central Asia and the wider Eurasian region. The declaration also includes an amendment to the SCO Charter to include English as an official and working language of the grouping, another priority highlighted by India.
Another outcome of the summit is a protocol on amendments and additions to the SCO Charter, which enables India to participate in shaping the grouping's evolving institutional framework. The SCO is a political, economic and security grouping founded in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It has since expanded to include India, Pakistan, Iran and Belarus as full members, with several other countries holding observer or dialogue-partner status. The SCO framework is essentially a permanent Eurasian intergovernmental and regional cooperation organisation focused on security, counter-terrorism, and economic and political collaborations.