For the first time since Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor, Rajnath Singh came face-to-face with his Pakistani counterpart but no pleasantries were exchanged .
"There should be no place for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations".
Russian Defence Minister also attended.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refuses to sign SCO document as Pak-China dilute terror stand
China and its 'all-weather friend' Pakistan tried to divert the attention from terrorism in the SCO document, but Rajnath Singh firmly stood his ground on India's stand on terrorism.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh refused to sign the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) document that would have diluted India's stand on terrorism and the Pahalgam terror attack, which left 26 dead.
Due to divergence on the issue of terrorism, the SCO decided not to issue a joint statement.
Sources said China, which holds the SCO chair, and its "all-weather friend" Pakistan tried to divert the attention from terrorism in the SCO document, but Singh firmly stood his ground on India's stand on terrorism.
The SCO Summit, held in Qingdao, China, saw the Indian and Pakistani defence ministers come face-to-face for the first time since the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
The chill was evident as no pleasantries were exchanged with Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif at the meeting, sources said.
The summit brought together defence leaders from the organisation's ten member states, including China, Russia, Pakistan, and India.
RAJNATH SINGH BLASTS PAKISTAN
In his address at the SCO summit, Singh launched an all-out attack on Pakistan without naming it, saying some countries were using cross-border terrorism as an "instrument of policy" to provide shelter to terrorists.
"There should be no place for such double standards. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations," the Defence Minister said in a strong statement.
He also raked up the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir's Pahalgam, stressing that its pattern matched with Lashkar-e-Taiba's previous strikes in India.
Defending Operation Sindoor, where the armed forces destroyed nine terror camps deep inside Pakistan, Rajnath Singh said India was just exercising its right to defend against terrorism and deter future cross-border attacks.
The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-based LeT, had claimed responsibility for the attack in Pahalgam's Baisaran Valley, which left 25 tourists and one local Kashmiri dead.
"Dealing with these challenges requires decisive action... India is following a policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism," he underlined.
Pakistan, with help from China, had also managed to get TRF's name removed from the April 25 UN Security Council statement on the Pahalgam terror attack.
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