Russia on Thursday backed India’s claim that Pakistan should not raise bilateral issues on platforms such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), saying these groupings are focused on multilateral cooperation to address regional challenges.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi indirectly attacked Pakistan at the SCO virtual summit on Tuesday, saying it is regrettable that repeated attempts are being made to violate the group’s statutes by raising bilateral issues.
When asked about this matter during an online press conference on Thursday, Russia’s Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin said the SCO statutes do not allow for the inclusion of bilateral issues. Russia, the current president of the SCO, made it clear to all member states that such issues should be avoided. The main objective of the SCO is to address regional challenges and threats and promote economic, financial and humanitarian partnership among member states to maintain the momentum of continued collaboration, he said.
“We should not [divert] our attention to bilateral disputes, we do not interfere in these bilateral disputes, “Babushkin said, adding that Russia’s position on the India-Pakistan disputes remains” consistent and unchanged. ”
India has reacted vigorously to Pakistan’s repeated efforts, often with the support of its traditional ally China, to raise the Kashmir issue with multilateral bodies such as the SCO and the UN Security Council, efforts that intensified after it Jammu and Kashmir’s special status was removed in August. last year.
In September, India walked out of a virtual meeting of SCO national security advisers after the Pakistani representative projected a map that incorrectly showed the borders of the two countries. Russia, which chaired that meeting, subsequently informed India that the Pakistani representative went ahead with the action despite being asked not to do so.
Babushkin said that all SCO member states are “doing everything possible to avoid bringing tension to the agenda of this organization.” He added: “The value of this organization is that it provides a suitable platform for expanded cooperation and provides common ground for practical cooperation issues.”
‘Rising tensions in LAC will damage regional stability’
Russia said on Thursday that any further escalation of tensions between India and China along the Royal Line of Control could affect regional stability in Eurasia and reiterated the need to find a negotiated settlement.
“It is feared that amid common turmoil and unpredictability, the escalation between India and China would further affect regional instability in our common home Eurasia, while the escalation as we are witnessing may be misused by other actors for their geopolitical purposes,” Babushkin told reporters.
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