Global order shift

THE occasion was a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation — a meeting which took place in the Kyrghyz capital Bishkek. Defence ministers from China and India were in attendance along with others from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and many Central Asian republics who are also members of the SCO. It was here that the Indian defence minister made a statement that was, coming from him, quite surprising. “Terrorism,” Rajnath Singh told everyone, “has no nationality, no theology”. It is a statement that should have been lauded by all but back home in India it proved unpalatable. No sooner had Singh made these remarks than the Congress-led opposition kicked into high gear. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X to state: “Yesterday, the defence minister, obviously with the approval of and at the instance of the prime minister, gave a shameful clean chit to Pakistan while speaking in Bishkek. … Clearly this new stance in relation to Pakistan is all part of the PM’s policy of appeasement of the US and calibrated capitulation to China. The defence minister’s shocking statements are as anti-national as the PM’s bizarre clean chit to China on June 19, 2020.” All this is noteworthy as it reflects both the conundrums India faces in formulating a post-terror foreign policy as well as what its rabid focus on demonising Pakistan has done to its internal politics. The context of the meeting is also of note. Most participants were Muslim countries — such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Iran and Kyrgyzstan itself. Add China — a fervent Pakistan ally — and you have a group unlikely to be friendly to the sort of demonisation of Islam and Pakistan that is routine inside India. Pakistan has moved on and so has the world. Beyond the make-up of the audience is the reality of the world. India’s efforts to isolate Pakistan globally have failed. The role Pakistan is playing in helping negotiations in the conflict between the US and Iran has been commended widely. The role, along with a decis