NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, addressing the 26th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Bishkek on Tuesday, said there can be no “double standards” in the fight against terrorism and called for dismantling its entire ecosystem, including financing, recruitment, radicalisation and safe havens.“We must dismantle the entire ecosystem of terrorism–its financing, recruitment, radicalization, and safe havens. We must speak in one voice that there can be no place for double standards on this serious issue,” he said.PM Modi described terrorism as a “grave challenge to all of humanity” and added that the fight against it cannot be limited to a mindset of “action-reaction”. He also called on countries that use terrorism as an instrument of policy or provide shelter and support to terrorists to face a strong message.“Those countries that use terrorism as an instrument of their policy, and provide shelter and support to terrorists, must be sent a strong message that terrorism cannot be a ‘strategic asset’ for anyone,” the Prime Minister said.He also outlined “Security, Connectivity and Opportunity” as the three pillars of India’s vision for the SCO, with peace and security forming the first pillar.“Our shared aspiration for a peaceful and secure Eurasia is also linked to peace and stability in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that India would continue its development and humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people.On the West Asia crisis, Modi said conflicts in one region can have repercussions across the world, affecting “energy security, maritime trade, and supply chains of the entire world”.“The countries of the Global South have to bear the maximum brunt of this. Therefore, India’s call has been that the solution to all tensions and wars is not possible on the battlefield, but only through Dialogue and Diplomacy,” he said.The Prime Minister also flagged drug trafficking as a serious threat to the younger generation and regional security, calling for stronger cooperation through SCO mechanisms dealing with security threats, organised crime, information security and narcotics. “We must make them effective mediums for practical coordination and timely action,” PM Modi said.
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He further stressed that SCO cooperation should translate into tangible benefits for people, with people-to-people ties placed at the centre of the grouping’s future agenda.“The true measure of our success should be how many new opportunities our efforts have created for young people, how many new markets have opened up for our entrepreneurs, how much our farmers have benefited from technology, and how much better the lives of our citizens have become,” he said.Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Japarov is hosting the summit and serving as its chairman. PM Modi is attending alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and other leaders of SCO member states.
