At SCO, Modi-Imran exchange pleasantries Nations sponsoring Terrorism must be held accountable: PM

BISHKEK: Amid the deep chill in bilateral ties, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan exchanged pleasantries on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit here on Friday, hours after Modi said the countries which "promote, support and fund" terrorism must be held accountable, in a veiled reference to Pakistan whose premier Khan was among the audience.
Both Modi and Khan were here to attend the annual summit of the SCO.
“The pleasantries were ‘usual’ in nature and were exchanged when the two Prime Ministers were in the Leaders' Lounge along with leaders of other SCO member countries,” official sources said, insisting that it cannot be construed as a "meeting".
It is also learnt that Khan congratulated Modi on his election victory during their first face-to-face interaction.
However, there was no meeting between the two leaders, they said.
This is the first such interaction between the two Prime Ministers amidst the chill in bilateral relations, triggered by the terror attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February.
The interaction came hours after Modi made a veiled attack on Pakistan as Khan listened, saying the countries which "promote, support and fund" terrorism must be held accountable.
In his address, Modi told top leaders at the SCO Summit that there should be a global conference to combat the scourge of terrorism, even as he highlighted the spirit and ideals of the SCO to strengthen cooperation in the united fight.
The forces of humanity should shed their narrow minded approach and join hands to eliminate the scourge of terrorism, Modi said.
"During my visit to Sri Lanka last Sunday, I visited the St Anthony's church, where I witnessed the ugly face of terrorism which claims the lives of innocents anywhere," the Prime Minister said, referring to one of the sites of the devastating Easter Sunday attacks that killed 258 people in Sri Lanka.
"To deal with this threat, all forces of humanity should come out of their narrow minded approach and come together," he said in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pakistan Prime Minister Khan and Iran President Hassan Rouhani among others.
Modi went on to add, "The countries which promote, support and fund terrorism must be held accountable," in a clear reference to Pakistan as Khan listened.
"India calls for an international meet to discuss how to deal with terrorism. India advocates a terrorism-free society," he said.
Prime Minister Modi also called on the SCO member states to cooperate under the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) against terrorism.
He also urged the SCO leaders to organise a global conference on terrorism.
"Literature and culture provide our societies a positive activity, specially they stop the spread of radicalisation among the youths in our society," Modi said.
Underlining the need for stability and security in the SCO region, the Prime minister said an important element in this regard is acea peaceful, united, secure and prosperous Afghanistan".
He said India supports the efforts for an "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled peace process" and expressed happiness that a road map has been prepared for the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group.
During his address, Modi also spoke about the need for the SCO members to work for better connectivity, healthcare, alternate energy and humanitarian cooperation.
In the context of connectivity, he said India and the SCO region have links dating back to thousands of years.
"This, our common region, needs better connectivity in the modern era. India's focus on connectivity is reflected in the initiatives like the International North-South Transport Corridor, Chahbahar Port (development) and Ashgabat agreement," he said.
The Ashgabat agreement, which India joined last year, is a multi-modal transport pact among the nations like Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan and Oman.
India also started an air freight corridor connecting Kabul and Kandahar in Afghanistan with New Delhi and Mumbai in 2017, the Prime Minister said.
"Connectivity is a must for prosperity, regional integration, good governance, transparency and stability," he said.
Along with physical connectivity, the people-to-people connectivity holds no less importance," he said.
India's E-tourism visa is available for most of the SCO nations, Modi said and announced that the Indian tourism website will soon have a Russian interface and a 24X7 tourism helpline in Russian language for the convenience of the travelers from the SCO countries.
In the context of healthcare, he said the SCO should lay thrust on working in this area from 2019 to 2021.
India will be happy to share its experience regarding tele-medicine and medical tourism, he added.
Modi arrived in the Kyrgyz capital on Thursday for the two-day SCO summit. The SCO is a China-led 8-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017.
India in the past has blamed Pakistan for carrying out terrorist attacks in the country and asked it to stop supporting terror outfits operating from its soil.
India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by a Pakistan-based terror group, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.
Early this year, tensions flared up between India and Pakistan after a suicide bomber of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF personnel in Kashmir's Pulwama district.
Amid mounting outrage, the Indian Air Force (IAF) carried out a counter-terror operation, hitting the biggest JeM training camp in Balakot in Pakistan on February 26. The next day, Pakistan Air Force retaliated and downed a MiG-21 in an aerial combat and captured an IAF pilot, who was later handed over to India.
China played a role in easing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.
On Thursday, Modi had told Chinese President Xi Jinping that his country's "all-weather friend" Pakistan must take concrete action against terrorism.
The Prime Minister told the Chinese President that India has a consistent policy that all issues between India and China should be discussed through a bilateral mechanism, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told mediapersons after the meeting on the sidelines of the SCO Summit.
"We look for a peaceful settlement (with Pakistan) through negotiations," Gokhale quoted Modi as telling Xi.
The Prime Minister told Xi that he had made efforts to build cordial relations with Pakistan but those were "derailed", the Foreign Secretary said.
"The Prime Minister did inform President Xi that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terrorism and that at this stage we do not see it happening," Gokhale said.
"Therefore, we expect Pakistan to take concrete action on the issues that India has proposed, the areas of concerns that we have flagged to Pakistan. And Pakistan should take concrete action in this regard," the Foreign Secretary quoted Modi as telling Xi.
The clear message given by Modi to Xi assumes significance against the backdrop of the consistent efforts made by China, which considers itself as "all-weather friend" of Pakistan, to stall an international attempt to proscribe Masood Azhar by the UN Security Council till recently.
China, one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, finally relented to allow the world body to sanction Azhar on May 1.
China relented under intense international pressure, particularly built by the US and France.

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