External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking at the SCO Summit in Islamabad, made a veiled reference about Pakistan and China. In his address, he talked about the various challenges in the region. He said, “If trust is lacking or cooperation inadequate, if friendship has fallen short and good neighbourliness is missing somewhere, there are surely reasons to introspect and causes to address.” He further added, “It is only when we reaffirm our commitment most sincerely to the Charter that we can fully realise the benefits of cooperation and integration that it envisages.”
This statement comes at a time when India has strained relations with both Pakistan and China. This includes issues like cross border terrorism issues with Pakistan and military stand offs at LAC with China. The relations with Pakistan entered into a deep freeze as India made it clear that dialogues can happen only when there’s a “terror-free” atmosphere. The ball is now in Pakistan’s court to stop the cross border terrorism for any dialogue to take place. With China, Indian ties are at a very minimum post the military standoffs at the LAC. Mr. Jaishankar made a subtle but obvious allusion to the two neighbours. He highlighted the fact that collaboration cannot exist in the absence of confidence.
He said, “Cooperation must be based on mutual respect and sovereign equality. It should recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty. It must be built on genuine partnerships, not unilateral agendas. It cannot progress if we cherry-pick global practices, especially of trade and transit.”
‘The Three Evils…’
Speaking about progress and development, Mr. Jaishankar talked about the three evils that plague the world. These three evils being- “Terrorism, Extremism and Separatism.” Mr Jaishankar said, “But most of all, our endeavours will progress only when our commitment to the Charter remains firm. It is axiomatic that development and growth requires peace and stability. And as the Charter spelt out, this means being firm and uncompromising in countering the ‘three evils’. If activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel.”
“Difficult Times In World Affairs”
In the context of on going Russia Ukraine and Israel’s conflict with Hamas. Mr. Jaishankar said, “We meet at a difficult time in world affairs. Two major conflicts are underway, each with its own global repercussions.”
He later went on to say that the answer to these problems lies in the charter of the organisation itself. He said, ” I urge you to reflect on Article 1 that spells out the goals and tasks of the SCO. Let me summarize it for our collective consideration. The objective is to strengthen mutual trust, friendship and good neighbourliness. It is to develop multi-faceted cooperation, especially of a regional nature. It is to be a positive force in terms of balanced growth, integration and conflict prevention. The Charter was equally clear what the key challenges were. And these were primarily three, that the SCO was committed to combatting: one, terrorism; two, separatism; and three, extremism.”