The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), originally envisioned as a bulwark against terrorism, separatism, and extremism, faces a moment of reckoning. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, at the recent foreign ministers’ meet in Tianjin, reminded the forum of its founding purpose. In doing so, he placed India’s security concerns ~ especially after the recent Pahalgam attack ~ squarely at the centre of SCO’s collective conscience. His pointed message, delivered in the presence of Pakistan’s foreign minister, was both a diplomatic assertion and a regional call to action. The Pahalgam attack of April 2025, which claimed 26 lives, was more than just a terrorist strike. Its calculated timing and location targeted the Jammu and Kashmir tourism sector ~ an economic lifeline ~ and attempted to stoke religious tensions in a region long plagued by insurgency.

For India, the link between terrorism and its external sponsorship is clear, and the country has........

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