Tianjin Declaration denounces Pahalgam attack

In a major diplomatic win for India, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday delivered a united condemnation of the Pahalgam massacre, in which 26 people were brutally killed by a Pakistan-based terror outfit, and further declared that those who planned, financed and sheltered the terrorists must be brought to justice.

The strong wording, part of the Tianjin Declaration adopted at the SCO summit in China, came with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at the table — underscoring the weight of the message.

“The member states strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025,” the declaration read, while also denouncing attacks in Pakistan’s Khuzdar and on the Jaffer Express earlier this year. The statement reaffirmed that “double standards in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable” and stressed the need for collective global action under the UN framework.

For India, the explicit condemnation marks a rare moment of solidarity at a forum that includes Pakistan, which has often been accused by New Delhi of sponsoring cross-border terrorism. Officials described the language as a clear acknowledgment of India’s concerns, noting that the perpetrators were identified as The Resistance Force terrorists, who were operating from across the border.

The 18-page Tianjin Declaration, adopted after the two-day summit of the SCO Council of Heads of State, went beyond counter-terrorism. It reaffirmed support for a multipolar world order, called for the reform of the United Nations to reflect contemporary realities, opposed unilateral coercive measures such as sanctions, and backed the peaceful use of nuclear energy and outer space.

On regional crises, the grouping condemned Israeli and US military strikes on Iran in June, demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, and called for an inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan. Central Asia was described as the “core of the SCO”, with leaders pledging to strengthen stability in the region.

The declaration also had an economic thrust — announcing the establishment of a long-discussed SCO development bank, adopting a roadmap on sustainable energy, and unveiling new mechanisms on digital economy, e-commerce and artificial intelligence.

China, which chaired the summit, passed the baton to Kyrgyzstan for 2025-26. The next SCO leaders’ summit will take place in Bishkek.

For India, however, the Tianjin meet will be remembered for the fact that the SCO, for the first time, spoke in one voice against a terror strike that claimed dozens of innocent lives in Kashmir’s Pahalgam valley.