No whitewashing on international terrorism: India at SCO meeting

      New Delhi: India on Tuesday said the world must display "zero tolerance" towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, asserting that there can be "no justification, no looking away and no whitewashing" in the matter.

"As India has demonstrated, we have the right to defend our people against terrorism, and will exercise it," external affairs minister S Jaishankar said in his address at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting in Moscow.

"We must never forget that the SCO was founded to combat the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. These threats have become even more serious in the years that have passed," he said.


In the presence of China and Pakistan, the minister said, "It is imperative that the world displays zero tolerance towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."

Jaishankar said India believes that SCO must "adapt to the changing global landscape, develop an expanded agenda and reform its working methods".

He said: "We assess the global economic situation to be particularly uncertain and volatile currently. Supply side risks have been aggravated by demand side complexities. There is consequently an urgent requirement to de-risk and diversify."