Pakistan welcomes India at SCO anti-terror meet, calls terror a common challenge

Pakistan on Thursday acknowledged India’s participation in a recent regional anti-terrorism meeting in Islamabad and said terrorism was a “common challenge” for both countries.

The 46th Meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was held in Islamabad on September 14. During his weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Sajjad Haider Khan confirmed that India’s charg d’affaires attended the meeting.

Asked about India’s participation, Khan said, “Participation is there, and we hope that participation will continue because the broader objective is peace and security and fighting terrorism, and it is a common challenge for both countries.”

The spokesperson was also asked about media reports that Pakistani Sikh pilgrims were stopped at Faisalabad International Airport while travelling to India to perform religious rituals at Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib. He said reports that the pilgrims were not allowed to board the plane were “not correct” and described them as a “malicious media campaign”.

He said the Pakistani side was not aware that the Indian High Commission had issued these visas and added that the visas were not covered under the 1974 bilateral protocol between Pakistan and India. According to a government official, the Sikhs had arranged their Indian visas on their own through the Delhi Mandar Management Committee. The official said they should have coordinated with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee for their travel and should have preferred crossing into India through the Wagah Border. The official added that they may be allowed to travel for the pilgrimage through the Wagah Border.

Pakistan’s remarks linked India’s participation in the SCO anti-terror meeting with the wider objective of peace and security, while also addressing the issue of Sikh pilgrims’ travel to India and the process followed for their visas and route.