New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday announced that India will host the first Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Civilisation Dialogue Forum by the end of this year, inviting all member countries to participate in the initiative aimed at strengthening cultural ties and mutual understanding.
Addressing the SCO Council of Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Singh highlighted India’s longstanding friendship with Tajikistan and its close ties with Central Asian countries.
“At the end of this year, India will host the first SCO Civilisation Dialogue Forum. We invite all SCO countries to participate in it,” Singh said.
Referring to the SCO’s 25-year journey, Singh noted that leaders had reviewed the organisation’s achievements and discussed its future during the SCO Summit in Bishkek.
“India gives great importance to our long-standing friendship with Tajikistan and our bond with Central Asian countries. During the SCO Summit in Bishkek, our leaders had outlined the 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. That occasion was about reviewing our shared journey as well as deliberating on the path to the future,” he said.
Singh recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for concrete steps to strengthen security, connectivity and opportunities across the SCO region, adding that the message remained particularly relevant for the Council of Heads of Government.
He also stressed the need for a collective and uncompromising approach to combating terrorism, describing it as one of the most serious threats to peace and development.
“Terrorism not only causes the loss of innocent lives but also disrupts investment and commerce. It radicalises society and deprives our youth of the opportunities they deserve,” he said.
Emphasising that there should be no double standards in tackling terrorism, Singh called for dismantling the entire ecosystem supporting it.
“There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorism, and no place for those who finance, support or provide safe havens to terrorists. The entire ecosystem of terrorism must be firmly and collectively dismantled,” he added.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar was also present at the meeting. On the sidelines of the SCO gathering, Singh met Tajikistan Prime Minister Qohir Rosulzoda and Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.
