New Delhi: The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Tuesday (September 1) condemned military strikes on Iran and backed a political and diplomatic resolution to the conflict in a declaration endorsed by all ten member states, including India, but stopped short of naming Israel and the United States as it had done last year.The Bishkek Declaration, which marks 25 years of the regional grouping, says member states “reiterate the SCO’s previously stated position condemning military strikes on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran”, which it said had caused civilian casualties and significant economic damage.Such actions, it says, violated the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter and created “serious risks to international peace, security and stability”.The joint declaration, along with 27 other documents, was signed by the heads of all member countries, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and the leaders of Pakistan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at the close of the 26th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State.Unlike the 2025 Tianjin Declaration, however, the new document does not identify the countries responsible for the strikes. Last year, the SCO had “strongly condemned the military strikes by Israel and the United States of America against the Islamic Republic of Iran in June 2025” and described them as a violation of international law and Iran’s sovereignty.The latest declaration nevertheless reiterates support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and says the conflict should be resolved “solely through political and diplomatic means”.There has been a renewal in exchange of military strikes between Iran and the US after Washington struck Iranian rocket launchers in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after a more than month-long lull in fighting.The SCO’s position drew on a statement issued on March 2, two days into the Iran war, which called the use of force unacceptable and demanded that the UN Security Council “take immediate measures to counteract the undermining of international peace and security”. That statement also named no perpetrator of the attacks.Incidentally, India had dissociated itself from the statement by the SCO on the 12-day Iran war last year, which had condemned “the military strikes carried out by Israel on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 13”.However, ten weeks later, Modi signed a declaration in Tianjin, China in September that described the June strikes as “a gross violation of the principles and norms of international law and the UN Charter, and an infringement on the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.The SCO member states also expressed their “sincere condolences to the people and Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the tragic death of Supreme Leader Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and to the families of the victims”.In the opening hours of joint US and Israeli air strikes on Tehran on February 28, Khamenei was killed along with 40 other Iranian officials, among them armed forces chief General Abdol Rahim Mousavi and defence minister General Aziz Nasirzadeh.SCO condemns ‘unilateral coercive measures’ amid US’s ‘Operation Economic Outcast’The declaration also notes that SCO “oppose[s] unilateral coercive measures that are contrary to the UN Charter and other norms of international law, [and] the rules and principles of the World Trade Organisation” (WTO), that are harmful for the global economy.The latest text reiterates support for Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but stops short of naming Israel and the United States as in last year’s Tianjin Declaration. Photo: AP/PTI.The language comes as the US has stepped up its economic campaign against Iran. On August 24, Washington launched what it called “Operation Economic Outcast”, expanding the risk of secondary sanctions for entities that continue to do business with Tehran and warning countries to shut down Iran-related activities identified by the US.The formulation was also used at last year’s SCO summit in Tianjin, but in a markedly different economic context. The 2025 declaration said member states opposed “unilateral coercive measures, including those of an economic nature” that contravened the UN Charter, international law and WTO rules.That statement was issued as US President Donald Trump’s administration was imposing sweeping tariffs on trading partners. Those sweeping US tariffs were subsequently struck down by the US Supreme Court in February 2026.Muted stance on Palestine, no mention of Gaza peace processThe Palestinian issue, meanwhile, has received much less space than it did at Tianjin. The Bishkek Declaration says that “the only possible way to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East is a comprehensive and just settlement of the Palestinian question”.The 2025 declaration had gone considerably further, expressing “deep concern” over the continuing Palestinian-Israeli conflict and condemning actions that had caused numerous civilian casualties and a “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in Gaza. It had called for an “immediate, complete and sustainable ceasefire” and humanitarian assistance.While the Gaza war may have officially ended, the Bishkek text makes no reference to the fragile implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and the post-war peace framework, even as Israeli strikes continue in the territory.Nor does it address the deteriorating situation in the occupied West Bank – where Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence have reached historically high levels – and the growing displacement of Palestinians.Modi: Grouping cannot limit itself to ‘action-reaction’ approach on terrorismThe language on terrorism, meanwhile, remains broadly in line with previous SCO declarations, although the Bishkek document does not name any specific attack.It says member states “strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”, reiterate that “double standards” in the fight against terrorism are unacceptable, and call on the international community to combat terrorism, including the cross-border movement of terrorists. It also says that attempts to exploit terrorist, separatist and extremist groups for “mercenary purposes” are inadmissible.This is a notable change from last year, when the Tianjin Declaration, the first SCO leaders’ summit after the April 22 Pahalgam attack, specifically condemned the attack and said its “perpetrators, organisers and sponsors” must be brought to justice. It also named the Jaffer Express and Khuzdar attacks in Pakistan.The Pahalgam reference had followed a contentious SCO defence ministers‘ meeting in Qingdao in June, where India refused to sign the outcome document after its concerns over terrorism were not reflected in the text. India’s foreign ministry said at the time that the inclusion of its concerns was opposed by “one particular country”.In his remarks, Modi said terrorism remains a “serious challenge to humanity as a whole” and argued that the SCO could not limit its response to an “action-reaction approach”. India, he said, wants the grouping to dismantle the “entire ecosystem” of terrorist financing, recruitment, radicalisation and safe havens, while making clear that there could be “no place for double standards”.Without naming any country, Modi said the SCO should send a message to states that “use terrorism as an instrument of policy and provide safe haven and support to terrorists” that terrorism could never be a “strategic asset” for anyone.While he stressed that water should not be “weaponised” in the context of the Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also described terrorism as “one of the gravest threats” affecting the region, but explicitly linked it to Pakistan’s concerns over Afghanistan.Modi said India wants the SCO to dismantle the “entire ecosystem” of terrorist financing and that there can be “no place for double standards” on the issue. Photo: X/@MEAIndia via PTI.“So long as terrorists continue to use Afghan territory to shed the blood of innocent Pakistanis and other nations,” he said, “lasting peace will remain beyond our reach.” He also said Pakistan had lost more than 90,000 lives and suffered economic losses of over $150 billion in its fight against terrorism.The declaration’s reference to Afghanistan is brief. It calls for an “independent, neutral and peaceful state free from terrorism, war and drugs” and says that the formation of an inclusive government with broad participation of all “ethno-political groups” is the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability.On economic agenda, a more nuanced pictureAs it has at every summit since becoming a full member in 2018, India stayed out of the paragraph endorsing China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support for the BRI and its alignment with the Eurasian Economic Union.New Delhi has consistently refused to endorse the BRI, primarily because the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes through territory in Jammu and Kashmir under Pakistani control and claimed by India.Modi also reiterated at the summit that connectivity must respect sovereignty, saying that “connectivity that by-passes sovereignty ultimately loses both trust and meaning”.The economic agenda also contains a more nuanced picture. The term “interested member parties” is associated with the proposal for an SCO Development Bank and the implementation of a roadmap for increasing the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, which leaves open the question of which countries would participate in the proposed mechanisms.In the 2023 summit, New Delhi had stayed out of the SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030, citing what officials described as an overload of Chinese diplomatic terminology, including references to Xi’s Global Development Initiative.This time, the declaration says member states “will continue to implement the SCO Economic Development Strategy for the period up to 2030”, with no obvious qualifiers.Another instance of Chinese diplomatic language finding its way into the SCO text appears in the section on the world order, although this time India is sharing this space, as it has done for the past two years.Indian officials highlighted that the declaration once again carries the Indian signature phrase “One Earth, One Family, One Future”. But in the same sentence, it also adopts the catchphrase associated with Xi’s foreign policy, of “creating a community with a shared destiny for humanity”.Just before the leaders posed for the joint photograph, Xi and Putin arrived together at Bishkek’s Yrys Ordo Congress Hall.Xi extended his hand to Modi first. Modi took it, and in the same motion shook Putin’s hand with his other, as the three men briefly linked together before they separated for the formal photograph.The scene inevitably recalled last year’s much more conspicuous display at Tianjin, where Modi, Putin and Xi had been photographed together in an informal huddle and with the Russian and Indian leaders even walking hand-in-hand.Those images had caused a stir in Washington, coming as the Trump administration was pressing India over its purchases of Russian oil and seeking to maintain pressure on Moscow, while also viewing China as a strategic rival.The three leaders would again be meeting in New Delhi this month for the BRICS summit.