THOUGH India’s narrative linking Pakistan to the Pahalgam terrorist attack has largely failed to find any takers in the global arena, New Delhi has persevered with its efforts to isolate this country at international fora. The latest example was witnessed at the Defence Ministers’ Meeting of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation states, which just concluded in the Chinese city of Qingdao. The Indians had tried to insert pointed references to Pakistan in the conference’s joint statement, yet this gambit failed, with the result that no official statement was issued after the moot. The Indian defence minister had, without naming Pakistan, again tried to link this country to the Pahalgam episode by stating that “some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of policy”. The Indian foreign ministry noted that “concerns on terrorism” could not be included in the final document due to the objections of “one particular country”, hence the joint communiqué was not adopted. Though China has downplayed the lack of consensus, it is clear that such efforts by India to misuse multilateral groupings to settle bilateral scores will harm efforts to hamper efforts at regional integration by organisations such as the SCO.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time India has displayed such behaviour. During the recent Iran-Israel hostilities, India distanced itself from an SCO statement condemning Israel’s aggression against Iran, an SCO member. Moreover, Saarc has been rendered moribund on account of Indian intransigence. The last meeting of the South Asian grouping was held in 2014 in Kathmandu; India refused to attend the 2016 summit in Islamabad, causing other member states to also pull out. This conduct on India’s behalf to harm and isolate Pakistan in the diplomatic arena is both petty and vindictive. The SCO, Saarc and other such groupings were formed with the vision of achieving regional integration, promoting economic ties and improving people-to-people contacts. Unfortunately, when a member state seeks to use such fora to slander another, collective aspirations remain unfulfilled. India has yet to understand that using multilateral bodies to air bilateral woes goes against the spirit of regional groupings. Pakistan has said that India should come to the negotiating table to resolve all outstanding differences. But the current dispensation in New Delhi has replied with haughtiness and arrogance, casting a pall on chances of peace in South Asia and preventing progress on regional dreams.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025