Some countries...: Rajnath's dig at Pak at SCO summit

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Defence Ministers' meeting in China's Qingdao said India has zero tolerance for terrorism and that the members of the SCO should condemn terrorism.

"We have shown that epicentres of terrorism are no longer safe and we will not hesitate to target them," Singh said.

"It is my pleasure to be here in Qingdao to participate in the SCO Defence Ministers meeting. I would like to thank our hosts for their warm hospitality. I would also like to congratulate Belarus on joining the SCO family as a new member. The world we live in is undergoing a drastic transformation. Globalisation, which once brought us closer together, has been losing momentum. The weakening of multilateral systems has made it harder to address urgent challenges from maintaining peace and security to rebuilding economies after the pandemic," Singh said in his address to the forum.

Further, he said, "India believes that reformed multilateralism can help build cooperation to prevent conflict between countries by creating mechanisms for dialogue and collaboration. No country, however large and powerful, can manage alone. In fact, the very idea of the global order, or indeed of multilateralism, is the assumption that nations have to work with each other for their mutual and collective benefit. This is also reflective of our age-old Sanskrit saying 'Sarve Jana Sukhino Bhavantu', which implies peace and prosperity to all."

"...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. SCO should not hesitate to criticise such nations, " the Defence Minister said at the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting.