India wanted terror reference in SCO document but one country opposed it: Jaishankar

New Delhi: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday said India wanted a reference to terrorism in the outcome document of SCO defence ministers' meeting, but it was not acceptable to one member country, in an indirect reference to Pakistan.

Speaking to reporters, Jaishankar said defence minister Rajnath Singh's view on the matter was right since the main purpose of SCO is to fight terrorism and without a reference to India's concerns on terrorism, he would not accept the outcome document.

The objective of SCO, which runs through consensus, is to fight terrorism, Jaishankar said when asked about Singh's stand.


SCO is currently the only multilateral organisation that has a dedicated unit - RATS - to fight terrorism and extremism.

"In the discussion on the outcome document of the defence ministers' meeting, one country - you can guess which one - said 'no we do not want reference to that'," he said.

SCO runs by unanimity, he said, but when one country said it will not accept any mention of terrorism, Singh communicated that the outcome document was not acceptable to New Delhi.

Singh on Thursday refused to sign a joint communique of SCO that skipped any mention of the recent Pahalgam terror attack.

Singh was in China for the SCO defence ministers' meeting that ended without a joint statement due to the strong stand taken by India on the issue of terrorism, which was objected to by Pakistan, also a member of the body.