The Shanghai Cooperation Organization declaration issued today (Monday)reaffirms Pakistan’s position on terrorism, unequivocally condemning all forms and manifestations of this global menace.

The SCO emphasized that double standards in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable. It strongly condemned the attacks on the Jaffer Express and the school bus in Khuzdar.

The declaration called for comprehensive and effective measures to combat all dimensions of terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists. Member states underscored the need for coordinated action against all terrorist organizations, in line with UN Security Council resolutions, the global counter-terrorism strategy, and the principles of the United Nations.

The SCO also stressed the importance of establishing an inclusive government in Afghanistan, with representation from all ethnic and political groups, to ensure lasting peace. It affirmed that every nation has the sovereign right to choose its own political, social, and economic path.

Furthermore, it declared that the use of terrorist groups for political or proxy objectives is unacceptable.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan has consistently presented credible evidence of cross-border facilitation of terrorism by India to the global community. India’s involvement in incidents like the Jaffer Express and the Khuzdar school bus attack has been substantiated with documented proof. In its April 24 statement, Pakistan’s National Security Committee offered India an independent investigation into the Pahalgam incident which remains unanswered by the Indian government to date.

Besides, Pakistan’s long-standing position on peace in Afghanistan aligns with the principles outlined in the SCO declaration. Pakistan has repeatedly shared evidence of cross-border terrorism, and the declaration has now brought further attention to this issue.

By endorsing Pakistan’s stance on terrorism and regional conflicts, the SCO declaration reflects the success of Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts.

As a result of its diplomatic efforts, Pakistan is emerging as a net regional stabilizer in the region.

Reiterating their deep concern over the continuing escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the member states strongly condemned the actions that have led to numerous casualties among the civilian population and a catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

The SCO declaration called for deepening cooperation in fighting drug trafficking. It also emphasized to continue efforts in fighting corruption and called on the international community to refuse to grant asylum to persons who have committed corruption offences.

The SCO member States called on promoting cooperation in the field of e-commerce, develop digital trade infrastructure, and bridge the gap between developed and developing countries in the digital economy. They also urged to increase cooperation in the field of veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance, ensuring the safety of agricultural and food products, promote the development of trade in agricultural products and strengthen international cooperation in combating epidemics and infections.

The declaration further said that the SCO member States will continue to strengthen cooperation in the fields of agriculture and food security, science and education, artificial intelligence, tourism, culture, health, sports, environment, and sustainable socio-economic development.

• Trump calls US-India trade relationship ‘one sided’
• Believes they should have reduced tariffs years ago.
• “It’s getting late”, says Trump on Indian tariffs.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Monday that India has offered to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero, even as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was making public shows of solidarity with Chinese and Russian leaders in the face of trade pressure from Washington.

While calling the US relationship with India “one sided,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform: “They have now offered to cut their Tariffs to nothing, but it’s getting late. They should have done so years ago.”

The Indian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Trump’s comments, which follow the implementation of total duties as high as 50% on Indian goods that have raised questions about the future of the US-India relationship.

Trump’s remark came as Modi was in China for a summit of more than 20 leaders of non-Western countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a China-backed initiative given renewed impetus by Trump’s global tariff offensive.

At the summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed his vision for a new global security and economic order that prioritizes the “Global South,” in a direct challenge to the US.

The US-India relationship has strengthened in recent years, including during Trump’s first term, given shared concerns about China’s growing power, but Trump threatened the tariffs on India after it refused to stop buying Russian oil in defiance of his efforts to end Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

In China, in an image designed to convey solidarity, Putin and Modi were shown holding hands as they walked jovially toward Xi before the summit opened. The three men stood shoulder-to-shoulder, laughing and surrounded by interpreters.

Beijing has used the summit to mend ties with New Delhi. Modi, visiting China for the first time in seven years, and Xi agreed on Sunday their countries are development partners, not rivals, and discussed ways to improve trade.

The US State Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the meetings in China.

Proposing the Global Governance Initiative (GGI) at the “Shanghai Cooperation Organization Plus” meeting in Tianjin, Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted five principles for the Initiative: to adhere to sovereign equality, to abide by international rule of law, to practice multilateralism, to advocate the people-centered approach, and to focus on taking real actions.

Reforming and improving the current global governance system starts from pursuing equality and should strive for a new system that benefits all. This is not only China’s belief, but also a principle China has acted on as a decades-long practitioner of global governance.

Equality in global governance first and foremost means all nations, regardless of political or economic system, size, history or religion, are entitled with equal rights to sovereignty and development. More importantly, it means all nations have equal rights in choosing their own national paths of development and political system. Their choices in building up a national system based on their own history, culture, tradition and national conditions should be respected. Equality would only ring hollow if such rights were not guaranteed.

This principle of equality proposed in China’s GGI is a reflection of the fundamental realities of our world today.

The first reality we need to confront is that inequality is a feature that defines our age. Although tech innovation under globalization may provide opportunities for Global South countries to overcome their disadvantaged position in a stratified global trading system, Global North countries have continued to dominate the system through their accumulated advantages in capital, human resources and knowledge. A report in January this year by the World Bank found that due to barriers in trade, tech and others, the overall economic growth for developing economies dropped from 5.9 percent in the 2000s to 5.1 percent in the 2010s to 3.5 percent in the 2020s. The gap between rich and poor countries has only widened. Adding to the disparity among countries, the income inequality within nations remains constant. A May report by the UN this year discovered that two-thirds of the world’s population live in countries where income inequality is growing and more than a third of the world’s population lives on between 2.15 and 6.85 dollars a day.

Another reality we need to acknowledge is that while the evolving issues of our shared future such as urbanization or the global decarbonization cause might provide chances for equalization, they also pose risks for further marginalization for the already disadvantaged down the road. Take the ongoing revolution brought about by artificial intelligence (AI) as an example. World Bank data shows that compared to 80 percent and 93 percent in upper-middle and high-income nations, internet access is just 27 percent in low-income countries and 52 percent in lower-middle-income countries. Thus, high-income countries are holding a distinct advantage in capitalizing on the values brought by AI thanks to their superior digital infrastructure and abundant AI development resources. Plus, AI is challenging development models in emerging markets that previously relied on export-oriented manufacturing by making manufacturing more technology and capital intensive. The traditional way of using more labor to improve productivity is gradually running out of time, which will be particularly hard for these economies moving forward.

In its decades of practices in global governance, China has been providing its answers to the question of equality. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, equality has stayed at the core of China’s foreign policy, evident in several key policy proposals such as the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence,” a community with a shared future for humanity, etc. A member of the Global South community itself, China also pursued equitable global governance by advocating the rights of the Global South. China has pushed for stronger representation of Global South countries within multilateral mechanisms such as the reform of the International Monetary Fund, and supporting the African Union in becoming a G20 member, among others. China also gave its support to the growth of under-developed economies over the years. For instance, starting from December 2024, China granted zero-tariff treatment to all the least developed countries in Africa with which it has diplomatic relations on 100 percent of their products.

In all, confronting the disparity and unfairness in the global governance system we have now and upholding the principle of equal rights for all is a premise for improving it. It is also one of the starting points of the Global Governance Initiative that China has just proposed.