Is SCO breaking up? Questions are being raised after India’s refusal to sign the SCO joint statement. After the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, cracks are being seen especially in the relations between India, Pakistan and China.

What is SCO 

The SCO is a political, economic, international security and defence alliance of ten Eurasian countries. It was founded in 2001 by China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan later India and Pakistan joined in June 2017. In 2023 Iran joined and Belarus in 2024.

The main focus of this organization is on counter-terrorism in the region and how to enhance regional security. Apart from this, the focus of this corporation is to increase economic integration and connectivity, promote cultural cooperation and regional dialogue. With counter-terrorism in focus, the group created the  RATS(Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure) by SCO. The headquarters of RATS is in Tashkent.

There is a leadership meeting of SCO in which the Prime Ministers and Presidents of the countries participate. Similarly on June 26, 2025, there was a meeting of Defense Ministers which was held  in Qingdao, China. It is worth noting that after the India-China military standoff in 2020, this was the first such meeting in which a senior Indian minister participated in China.

Rajnath Singh raised some Issues in his Speech

In his speech, he specifically said that the Pahalgam attack was a heartbreaking for India and we are also angry with the way this terror attack happened and took innocence lives.

Without naming Pakistan, he gave the message that some countries use cross border terrorism as an instrument of policy. These countries give shelter to terrorists and their martyrs glorify them. After India’s Operation Sindoor, some videos and photos came in which senior officers of Pakistan Army were seen in the funeral of the terrorist and he was being given state honors. He also said that India had the right to stop terrorist attacks. Somewhere he was talking about Operation Sindoor conducted by India. And it was also said that the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation cannot remain silent on this issue nor can it remain neutral on terrorism.

Apart from Rajnath Singh, other defense ministers also put forth their views. Let us tell you that whenever any such summit takes place, a joint statement is issued at the end of it. When the G20 summit was held in India, even at that time a lot of efforts were being made to issue a joint statement. The most difficult task in any summit is to issue a joint statement, especially in a summit like G20 in which there are countries like America, China and Russia who do not agree on many issues. But somehow India was successful in issuing a joint statement.

Important issues from India’s Perspective

First, despite India’s formal request, there was no mention of the Pahalgam terror attack in the joint statement because Pakistan and China opposed this. India viewed the omission as a deliberate attempt to water down the terrorism narrative.

Secondly, Pakistan, with the help of China, deliberately gets Balochistan added. What is meant to say is that in the joint statement that was to be issued, instead of the Pahalgam terror attack, Balochistan was mentioned. You have seen Jaffar Express and many other incidents in the recent news; such incidents keep happening all over Pakistan. Pakistan has blamed India for this several times, for which Pakistan has not been able to provide any proof till date. If seen, China has also made a lot of investment in this. BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) has troubled Pakistan and China a lot in this region. India saw this as an indirect accusation, implying that India was supporting insurgency in Balochistan, a narrative Pakistan often pushes.

Ultimately what happened was that India rejected the SCO joint statement due to which no joint statement could be issued within this summit. Because in such summits all the countries have to agree, if even one country disagrees then no joint statement can be issued. Then all the countries issue their separate statements.

Why did India take this stand?

First of all, India has shown that we will not compromise on national security and terrorism. Secondly, it also shows that there is a lot of division within SCO, especially between India, Pakistan and China.

Thirdly, it is clear that China supports Pakistan from behind even if the result is terrorism spreading all over the world. Whether the reason for this is to protect China’s investment in Balochistan and Sindh area in Pakistan or China’s CPEC (The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor).

It is an important thing that SCO has failed to issue a joint statement. It realizes how this decision of India raises questions on the unity and credibility of the entire group. In a way, India has also given a global message that we are not going to give up our long standing on zero tolerance against terrorism.

India has also given a message to SCO members that we do not want to be a part of any kind of symbolic diplomacy until India’s core concerns are acknowledged.

If India had not taken this stand, it could have also been interpreted that India compromises on some things somewhere which India would never want. India has made it clear that we will continue our zero tolerance policy regarding terrorism.