Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday refused to sign a joint communique of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) following the omission of the Pahalgam terror attack and not explicitly addressing India’s concerns over Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism. The SCO operates under the framework of consensus, and Singh’s refusal to endorse the document resulted in the SCO defence ministers’ conclave ending without a joint communique, people familiar with the matter said.

The draft communique neither figured the dastardly Pahalgam attack nor reflected India’s position on cross-border terrorism, they said. In his address at the conclave, Singh took a swipe at Pakistan for its relentless support to cross-border terrorism and underlined the need to bring “perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of terrorism to justice”.

“Some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide shelter to terrorists. There should be no place for such double standards. The SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations,” he said. Singh, who arrived in Qingdao on Wednesday, laid down the broad contours of India’s “transitional shift” in its policy against terrorism and urged the SCO member nations to unite in combating and shun “double standards”.