Need To Root Out Terrorism Collectively And Fix Accountability On Its Supporters: Rajnath Singh To SCO Defence Ministers

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has called upon the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states to collectively work towards eliminating terrorism in all its forms and fix accountability on those who aid or fund such activities.

Addressing the defence ministers of SCO member countries in New Delhi on Friday (28 April), Singh asserted that any kind of terrorist act or support to it in any form is a major crime against humanity, and peace and prosperity cannot coexist with this menace.

“If a nation shelters terrorists, it not only poses a threat to others, but for itself too. Radicalisation of youth is a cause of concern not only from the point of view of security, but it is also a major obstacle in the path of socio-economic progress of society. If we want to make the SCO a stronger and more credible international organisation, our top-most priority should be to effectively deal with terrorism,” Singh said, according to a Defence Ministry statement.

He asserted that New Delhi strives to further bolster trust and cooperation among the members of the SCO as it believes in maintaining peace and security based on the provisions of the charter of the United Nations.

Sharing his insights on the vision to ensure collective prosperity, the Raksha Mantri called for concerted efforts by the SCO member states, so that the region, with limitless possibilities in today’s multilateral world, shifts to the mindset of ‘great gain from win-win paradigm’ from ‘great game of zero sum, win-lose paradigm’.

“India has always followed the principle of ‘Let us walk together and move forward together’. Every era has a zeitgeist (defining idea). The zeitgeist of the present era is ‘Win-win cooperation for the great gain’,” he said.