Qingdao (China)

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has reiterated India’s tough stand against cross-border terrorism and the double standards of the countries in taking cognizance of it at the Shangahi Cooperation Organisation’s Defence ministers meet in China.

He said, “.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.”

He said, "I believe that the biggest challenges that we are facing in our region are related to peace, security and trust-deficit. The root cause of these problems is increasing radicalisation, extremism and terrorism. Peace and prosperity cannot co-exist with terrorism and proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction in the hands of non-state actors and terror groups.

“Dealing with these challenges require decisive action and we must unite in our fight against these evils for our collective safety and security."

It may be recalled that National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had taken a similar stands at the NSAs meeting of the forum a few days ago.

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Singh said, “India’s zero tolerance for terrorism is manifest today through its actions. This includes our right to defend ourselves against terrorism. We have shown that epicentres of terrorism are no longer safe and we will not hesitate to target them.”