Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has reaffirmed its commitment to fight terrorism, separatism, and extremism. The SCO emphasized on taking measures to disrupt the terror financing channels, stop the radicalization of youth and eliminate sleeper cells and places used as terrorist safe havens, and cross-border movement of terrorists.
Leaders of the SCO adopted New Delhi Declaration after a virtual meeting of the Council of Heads of State of SCO yesterday, July 4. According to the New Delhi Declaration, the Member States will seek to develop common principles and approaches to form a unified list of terrorist, separatist and extremist organizations whose activities are prohibited on the territories of the SCO Member States.
They opposed the militarization of information and communication technologies. The Member States have expressed their concern about the growing threats posed by increased production, trafficking, and abuse of narcotic drugs and using the proceeds of illicit drug trafficking as a source of funding for terrorism. They stressed the need for a joint and balanced approach to countering the trafficking of illicit drugs.
The Member States appreciated the outcomes of India’s presidency of the SCO in 2022-2023 which has contributed to the further development of multi-faceted and mutually beneficial cooperation. Briefing the media in New Delhi, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said all the leaders welcomed the completion of the procedure for Iran to join as the organization's full Member State.
In his address to the Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policies and provide shelter to terrorists. He stressed that SCO should not hesitate to criticize such nations. Mr. Modi said the SCO has emerged as a significant platform for peace, prosperity, and development in the entire Asian region in the past two decades. He also said India has made continuous efforts to take SCO's multi-dimensional cooperation to new heights as its Chairperson. Mr. Modi said, India has established five new pillars of cooperation within the SCO. The next meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State will be held in 2024 in Kazakhstan.
