By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Growing radicalisation is the biggest challenge to world peace and the recent developments in Afghanistan have made this challenge more apparent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. Participating virtually in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State, Modi said the SCO should develop a common template to fight radicalisation and extremism.
Noting that central Asia has been a bastion of moderate and progressive cultures and values, the prime minister said traditions such as Sufism have flourished in Asia over the centuries and spread throughout the region and the world.
“In India, and almost in all SCO countries, there are moderate, tolerant and inclusive institutions and traditions associated with Islam. SCO should work to develop a strong network between them,” he said.In a joint declaration issued at the end of the annual summit of the bloc in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe, the leaders of the eight-member SCO states – China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan – strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.
While the prime minister participated in the SCO summit virtually, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the Dushanbe meeting in person.
