India had on Friday, June 13, 2025, said it was “deeply concerned” at the recent developments between Iran and Israel and “closely monitoring” the evolving situation.
| Photo Credit: Reuters
A day after India abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, the Government of India distanced itself from Saturday’s statement at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) that “strongly” condemned Israeli military strikes on Iran, saying “India did not participate in the discussions” at the SCO on this statement.
In its statement, the SCO came out in support of Iran, a member state, and said the Israeli attacks had led to civilian casualties, and were contrary to international law and the United Nations Charter.
In a message released soon after the SCO issued the statement supporting Iran’s sovereignty, the Ministry of External Affairs said the Israel-Iran hostilities should be dealt through “channels of dialogue and diplomacy”, and “it is essential that the international community undertake endeavours in that direction”.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) referred to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s Friday conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Sayyid Abbas Araghchi, and said that the Indian position had been conveyed to Mr. Araghchi during the telephone conversation. “He (Mr. Jaishankar) also urged the avoidance of any escalatory steps and an early return to diplomacy. The overall position of India as stated above was communicated to other SCO members. Keeping that in mind, India did not participate in the discussions on the above-mentioned SCO statement,” the MEA’s statement said.
“The member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) express serious concern over the escalating tensions in the Middle East and strongly condemn the military strikes carried out by Israel on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 13, 2025,” the SCO said in a statement.
The SCO called for resolution of the dispute around Iran’s nuclear energy programme, emphasising that the matter should be resolved through “peaceful, political and diplomatic means”.
“Such aggressive actions against civilian targets including energy and transport infrastructure, which have resulted in civilian casualties, are a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter. They constitute an infringement on Iran’s sovereignty, cause damage to regional and international security, and pose serious risks to global peace and stability,” the SCO said.
Iran joined the SCO in 2023, when India was the Chair of the organisation. Iran’s admission into the SCO was followed by it joining the BRICS in August of the same year at the Johannesburg summit, which was viewed as a sign of resurgence of the large economies of the Global South.
Earlier on Friday, in the UN Security Council, India abstained when a resolution was passed that called on Israel and the Hamas to comply with international law and urged for an “immediate and permanent facilitation of full, rapid, safe and unhindered entry of humanitarian assistance at scale in Gaza, including food and medical supplies, fuel, shelter and access to clean drinking water.”
India is the only country from the SCO and BRICS groupings that abstained at this UNGA resolution.
Published – June 14, 2025 09:05 pm IST
