Expressing deep concern over developments in “the Middle East and around Iran”, the SCO member-states including India reiterated the bloc’s condemnation of military strikes on Iranian territory that resulted in numerous civilian casualties and significant damage to Iran’s economy, said the Bishkek Declaration.India also joined other member-states in expressing condolences over the death of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei.This was the second time that the SCO denounced the strikes on Iran after the West Asia war started on February 28, the first in an early March standalone statement that called the attacks unacceptable. India had endorsed that statement too, even though bilaterally it has not explicitly condemned the attacks on Iran the way it has missile and drone strikes on the GCC countries.
India also joined other member-states in expressing condolences over the death of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei
However, unlike the Tianjin Declaration last year that too condemned the June 2025 US and Israeli strikes on Iran, the Bishkek Declaration did not name the US and Israel.“Such actions violate the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter and create serious risks to international peace, security and stability,” said SCO’s Bishkek Declaration.India and others backed Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, advocating a resolution to the conflict solely through political and diplomatic means. In this regard, they welcome all efforts aimed at de-escalating the situation in the region and, as the declaration said, noted that the only possible way to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East is a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian question.PM Narendra Modi met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the margins of the SCO summit in Bishkek on Monday and backed expansion of bilateral economic ties with Tehran, while the Iranian president sought India’s help to end the war. After distancing itself from a statement by SCO in June last year condemning Israel’s strikes, India has signed on to joint documents by the bloc censuring US-Israel military action against Iran.The Declaration reflected a major Indian concern as it strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, emphasised that “double standards” in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable, and called on the international community to combat terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists.It called for the UN playing a central role by fully implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in accordance with the UN Charter and the principles of international law to jointly combat all terrorist groups.“Member States, reaffirming their firm commitment to combating terrorism, separatism, and extremism, emphasize the inadmissibility of attempts to exploit terrorist, separatist, and extremist groups for selfish purposes. They recognize the leading role of sovereign states and their competent authorities in countering terrorist and extremist threats,” said the Declaration.Significantly, targeting use of economic sanctions by the West, the leaders came out in support of an open, fair and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system focused heavily on the framework established by the WTO, while slamming unilateral coercive measures.
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“Member States oppose unilateral coercive measures that are contrary to the UN Charter and other norms of international law, the rules and principles of the World Trade Organization, that are detrimental to the interests of ensuring international security, including its food, energy and humanitarian components, and that have a negative impact on the global economy,” said the Bishkek Declaration.
