At SCO Meet, Pakistan’s FM Calls for Dialogue, India Cites Terrorism in Sharp Exchange

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meet in Tianjin on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar called for “peace and stability” with all neighbours, including India, even as tensions remained high following the Pahalgam terror attack.

Dar described recent months as witnessing “extremely disturbing developments” in South Asia and accused India of blaming Pakistan for the April Pahalgam attack “without credible investigation or verifiable evidence”. He warned that such accusations had brought the two nuclear-armed nations dangerously close to conflict.

India, however, has identified Pakistan-based operatives as the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack, in which 26 civilians were killed. These findings were shared with international partners during a coordinated diplomatic outreach. The attack triggered India’s Operation Sindoor in May, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Dar said Pakistan remained committed to the May 10 ceasefire agreement reached after four days of intense cross-border missile and drone strikes. He emphasized that disputes should be resolved “through dialogue and diplomacy, not conflict and coercion”.

In contrast, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, while addressing the same gathering, cited the Pahalgam incident as a stark reminder of the “three evils of terrorism, separatism, and extremism”. India maintains that it will only engage with Pakistan on matters related to cross-border terrorism, which it sees as Islamabad’s state policy.

While both sides exchanged strong positions, Dar echoed a broader appeal: “All forms of terrorism, including state terrorism, are condemnable. We must reject the use of terrorism for political purposes and address its root causes through a cooperative approach.”

The SCO currently comprises 10 member states, including China, Russia, India, Pakistan, Iran, and Central Asian nations. China presently holds the rotating presidency.