New Delhi: There can be “no justification” for, “no looking away” from and “no whitewashing” of terrorism, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)'s heads of government meeting in Moscow on Tuesday (November 18).

His remarks come days after the anti-terror National Investigation Agency said that the car explosion near the Red Fort in Delhi on November 10 that killed over a dozen people was a suicide bombing.

“Excellencies, we must never forget that the SCO was founded to combat the three evils of terrorism, separatism and extremism. These threats have become even more serious in the years that have passed” since the forum's founding 24 years ago, Jaishankar said at the meeting held at the Russia National Centre in Moscow.

He added: “It is imperative that the world display zero tolerance towards terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. There can be no justification, no looking away, and no whitewashing.”

Referring to New Delhi's decision to strike ‘terrorist infrastructure’ sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir in May following the Pahalgam terror attack – which precipitated a four-day-long military clash with Pakistan – Jaishankar continued: “As India has demonstrated, we have the right to defend our people against terrorism and will exercise it.”

Pakistan's foreign minister M. Ishaq Dar was also present and delivered his remarks to the gathering. His government has alleged Indian backing for a deadly terror attack that occurred in the Pakistani capital on November 11, but Islamabad's statement on Tuesday's meeting did not appear to contain any implicit reference to India.

In his remarks Jaishankar also referred to an “urgent requirement to de-risk and diversify” in light of the “particularly uncertain and volatile” prevailing global economic conditions.

“Supply-side risks have been aggravated by demand-side complexities. There is consequently an urgent requirement to de-risk and diversify. This is best done by as many of us forging the widest possible economic links,” the minister said.

His statement comes against the background of New Delhi saying, in the wake of Washington's sanctions on two Russian oil majors, that India aimed to ‘broad-base’ and ‘diversify’ its energy supplies, which has been seen as a signal that the government is moving away from Russia as its biggest source of crude oil imports.

Two months prior, the Donald Trump administration had ratcheted up its tariffs on Indian goods from 25% to 50% as a penalty for India's sustained purchases of sanctioned Russian oil despite Russia's continuing invasion of Ukraine.

Alongside, Jaishankar's remarks also come after an Indian delegation of engineering sector exporters visited Moscow for four days, reportedly as part of New Delhi's move to diversify its exports portfolio in light of the US's increased tariffs on India.

The minister also said that in the context of its modernisation the SCO ought to adopt English as a working language in order to make it “more flexible and adaptable”.

India “welcome[s] centres addressing challenges such as organised crime, drug trafficking and cybersecurity”, he said.

The grouping must also “keep up with contemporary changes”, which should “be reflected in fresh thinking and new collaborations”, said Jaishankar, pointing to a ‘special working group on startups and innovation’ as well as a ‘start-up forum’ that India initiated as “good examples”.

He also referred to instances of Indian humanitarian cooperation with SCO nations and offered to extend India's “considerable experience of heritage conservation in Southeast Asia” to Central Asia, all countries of which except Turkmenistan are part of the grouping.

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