"Successful diplomatic mission," West Asia Strategist lauds SCO's condemnation of Pahalgam terror attack

Awwad, in a conversation with ANI, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi put his foot down on India's concern on terrorism, and this was a successful diplomatic mission.

"This is absolutely a successful diplomatic mission by the Indian Prime Minister and I said it from day one that this outcome will be in India's favor and that is what I've been saying that India's concern of the cross-border terrorism and India being a victim of terrorism have been addressed and the Prime Minister put his foot on the ground and convinced the Chinese who was hosting this summit of the organization and also convinced many of the world leaders on a bilateral meeting that this is very important that the rest of the world should at least condole Indian sentiments and the victim this terrorist attack and I think that was the message very clear," he said.

"I'm sure there will be lots to see in the coming days because remember, SCO is a security apparatus and unless and until all these countries collectively fight terrorism, everybody will be a victim of terrorism," he added.

At the SCO Summit, the member states in the joint declaration adopted a strong stance against terrorism in their statement.

The member states strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April, which killed 26 people.

They expressed their deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of the dead and the wounded. They further stated that perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of such attacks must be brought to justice.

The member states, while reaffirming their commitment to the fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism, stress the inadmissibility of attempts to use terrorist, separatist and extremist groups for mercenary purposes. They recognise the leading role of sovereign states and their competent authorities in countering terrorist and extremist threats. (ANI)