China on Monday said its all-weather ally Pakistan must not be targeted on terrorism at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit this week where is Prime Minister Narendra Modi is most likely to raise the issue of the neighbouring nation harbouring terrorists.
“In every summit, the institutional building of the SCO will be discussed that would involve economic cooperation and security cooperation particularly on counter-terrorism,” IANS quoted China’s Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui as saying.
“Security and development are two major issues of focus for the SCO. The establishment of the SCO is not to target any certain country but the summit of this level will certainly pay attention to major international relation and regional issues,” Zhang said in an indirect reference to Pakistan.
The statement comes a day after PM Modi held talks with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and mutually agreed that terrorism is a “joint threat that needs collective and focussed action”.
PM Modi, who became the first foreign leader to visit the island nation since the 21 April Easter Sunday terror attacks, reiterated India’s commitment to partner with Sri Lanka for “a shared, secure and prosperous future”.
The Prime Minister also affirmed that India stands in solidarity with the people of Sri Lanka and that acts of terror cannot defeat the spirit of the island nation.
Meanwhile, PM Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit this week at Bishkek.
The SCO summit is due to be held on June 13-14 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The SCO is a China-led eight-member economic and security bloc with India and Pakistan being admitted to the grouping in 2017.
Last month, Xi extended his “heartfelt congratulations” to Prime Minister Modi for winning the general elections, in a rare gesture of greeting a foreign leader well before the official announcement of the results.