Cooperation must be based on mutual respect, recognition of territorial integrity: Jaishankar at SCO

The cooperation among the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation must be based on mutual respect and the recognition of territorial integrity, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday at a meeting of the multilateral grouping in Islamabad.

Jaishankar was representing India at the organisation’s head-of-state summit being hosted by Pakistan. The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation comprises India, China, Pakistan, Russia and six other nations from the Eurasian region.

The external affairs minister said that a global shift towards multipolarity, rebalancing and globalisation had created new opportunities for trade, connectivity, flow of energy and other forms of collaboration.

The members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation will benefit from such collaboration, Jaishankar said.

“However … to do that, cooperation must be based on mutual respect and sovereign equality,” he said. “It should recognise territorial integrity and sovereignty. It must be built on genuine partnerships, not unilateral agendas.”

The partnerships cannot progress if member nations “cherry-pick global practices, especially of trade and transit”, he said.

Jaishankar, the first Indian foreign minister to visit Pakistan since 2015, said it was evident that development and growth required peace and stability.

He added: “…this means being firm and uncompromising in countering the ‘three evils’. If activities across borders are characterised by terrorism, extremism and separatism, they are hardly likely to encourage trade, energy flows, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges in parallel.”

Jaishankar emphasised that the organisation’s charter recognised that the grouping is committed to combat terrorism, separatism and extremism.

These goals are more crucial today and an “honest conversation” was needed, said the external affairs minister. “If trust is lacking or cooperation inadequate, if friendship has fallen short and good neighbourliness is missing somewhere, there are surely reasons to introspect and causes to address,” he said.

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