heyn May 5, the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) met in Goa to discuss regional issues and challenges. On the same day, the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM),killed five soldiers of the Indian Army in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. targeted the unabated menace of Pakistan sponsored terrorism In this area, External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar urged SCO member states to ensure that the financing of terrorist groups “do not stop”.closed and blocked without distinction, They also reminded member states that combating terrorism and narco-terrorism was one of the primary mandates codified in the Constitution. Article 1 of the SCO Charter since 1998. Cross-border drug trade and the use of terrorism by some countries for geopolitical and geo-strategic reasons have made the SCO region vulnerable to armed conflicts.
The Shanghai Five was formed in 1996 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. By July 1998, the group prioritized a joint fight against “separatism, extremism and terrorism” emanating from the Af-Pak region. In 2001, with the inclusion of Uzbekistan, the multilateral organization of the Shanghai Five was renamed the SCO. During the inaugural address in 2001, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev referred to Afghanistan as Afghanistan. “Cradle of Terrorism”, The growing anti-terrorism convergence in the SCO region was consolidated and institutionalized in 2001 under the Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS). Based in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, mice Created a joint formation mechanism to respond to the global threat of terrorism and extremism and assist member states in the preparation of counter-terrorism measures. The RATS launched the joint exercise to strengthen the SCO’s counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist grid by training the armed forces in tactical counter-terrorist operations. between 2011 and 2015, RATS helped the SCO region prevent 20 terror attacks and 650 terror-related crimes, neutralize 1,700 extremists and arrest 2,700 terrorists.
Pakistan and State Sponsored Terrorism
In 2017, during the historic SCO summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, India and Pakistan, two of the most influential and powerful countries in South Asia, became full members of the SCO. The inclusion of Pakistan and India was considered to strengthen the main agenda of the SCO to combat terrorism and radicalization in Eurasia. However, Pakistan did not rectify its behavior and continued to use terrorism in Afghanistan as an anti-India and pro-Taliban foreign policy tool. Being a victim of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Prime Minister highlighted the need for cooperation in combating terrorism during the Astana summit. He warned, “Unless all the countries come together and make coordinated and strong efforts against terrorism, the solution of these problems is not possible.,
Pakistan has used and supported state-sponsored terrorism against radical elements in Eurasia. After 2002, Pakistan helped the Taliban against the moderate United States (US)-backed government in Afghanistan, which was seen as too close to India. The Pakistani security establishment and government helped the Taliban with human resources and donations through religious groups. Islamabad also accused the US-backed, India-friendly Afghan government of facilitating proxy wars within Pakistan. Had sent more than Pakistan till July 2021 10,000 terrorists To help the Taliban gain strategic depth against India in the region. Islamabad also divided the insurgents based on their needs and allowed some groups to operate independently while cracking down on other groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistani agencies and Islamic groups too distorted hadith Sayings and traditions attributed to the Prophet Muhammad for inspiring great battles in the Indian subcontinent, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and Afghanistan.
Islamabad has used the war-torn Afghan since 1989 Mujahideen and indigenous radical jihadists for terrorism-related activities in the Kashmir Valley and other parts of India. After 2017, the number of Pakistani terrorists killed in Jammu and Kashmir is shown in the table:
Pakistan-backed foreign terrorists declined marginally from 2019 to 2021 due to continued investigations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the intergovernmental money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog. According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in mid-2018, there were 600 terrorist hideouts In Pakistan, which went down 75 percent during FATF gray listing. Under FATF gray list, Pakistan was forced to act Against some of the well known terrorist organizations involved in 26/11 Mumbai attack.
As FATF monitoring restricted Pakistan’s brazen support to terrorists and terror organizations, it resorted to narcoterrorism as a new weapon to finance state-sponsored terrorism in the Kashmir Valley and other parts of India. In 2022, According to the Indian Border Security Force, 17 drones were shot down or captured along the border, leading to the seizure of 26,469 kg of drugs. Meanwhile, after reducing the possibility of getting out of the gray list due to less scrutiny of FATF, Pakistan increased the number of terrorists along with the infiltration of terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. terrorist hideout with Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK). This increased the number of foreign terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir by 60 to 70 percent. In view of such strategies and the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack in Rajouri during the SCO’s Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting in Goa, Pakistan’s Foreign Affairs Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari accused New Delhi of “Weaponizing Terrorism for Scoring Diplomatic PointsTo save Pakistan from SCO scrutiny.
The use of terrorist groups and terrorists for regional influence has also had disastrous consequences for internal peace in Pakistan. When the Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US-led NATO troops, Pakistan saw the new regime as a close ally; Although it proved contrary to Islamabad’s expectation, The TTP has increased attacks within Pakistan because of the state’s subtle policy towards terrorism.
From From August 2021 to August 2022, there were 250 terrorist attacks in Pakistan in which 433 people were involved. were killed. In 2020-2021, Pakistan witnessed 165 attacks in which 294 people were killed. in january this year more than 100 peopleMost of the police officers were killed by terrorists in a mosque.
Pakistan’s use of terrorism as a foreign policy tool has made peace in Eurasia a distant dream and neutralized the ability of the SCO to effectively deal with this threat at the regional level. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said that Pakistan should not do this “Keep snakes in his backyard” and “hope they only bite his neighbor”, Despite the international embarrassment of being gray listed twice by FATF, Pakistan’s direct and indirect support to terrorism continues unabated.
Unlike the FATF, the SCO has no international authority to summon and punish Pakistan for its actions. With growing divergence and mistrust among member states and the inclusion of rogue nations such as Pakistan, the SCO could become a toothless tiger with regard to state-sponsored terrorism. Additionally, some SCO member states have used a narrow approach to terrorism to retaliate with the West for making the region’s security more fragile. Growing narco-terrorism and state-sponsored terrorism will haunt the SCO region and Eurasia and neutralize the SCO’s efforts to deal with growing terrorist threats at the regional level.
Ejaz Wani is a Fellow of the Strategic Studies Program at the Observer Research Foundation. Thoughts are personal. this article Originally Appeared on the ORF website.