Modi urges SCO to act against states using terrorism as policy

At the SCO summit, Narendra Modi urged member states to take a clear stand against countries using terrorism as state policy. His remarks reinforced India's call for joint action against terror financing, recruitment and double standards.Image used for representational purposes onlyPrime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday used the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit to call for a stronger stand against terrorism, as he wrapped up his two-nation visit to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan after holding bilateral meetings with several heads of state. At the summit, Modi said the SCO must confront countries using terrorism as an instrument of state policy, reject "double standards" in the fight against terror financing and recruitment, and work to dismantle the entire ecosystem of terrorism.The summit also saw Chinese President Xi Jinping ask SCO member states to make security a key priority, while Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said water was the "lifeblood" of the region and it must never be weaponised. Elsewhere, Nepal's flood disaster deepened, with the death toll rising to 1,003 and nearly 4,000 people still missing, even as Indian rescue teams and the Indian Embassy stepped up support. In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said an Indian citizen was among 12 people killed in the latest Russian attacks.Modi's remarks at the SCO summit focused on terrorism and collective action against it. He urged the grouping to take a clear position against states that use terror as policy, and called for a united approach against terror financing and recruitment without what he described as "double standards". He also said the terror network had to be dismantled in its entirety.Later in the day, Modi concluded his visit to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. During the two-nation trip, he attended the annual SCO summit in Bishkek and held bilateral meetings with several heads of state. At the same summit, Xi said SCO member states should make security a key priority and crack down on terrorism, separatism and extremism, as well as transnational organised crimes, drug trafficking and telecom fraud. Sharif, addressing the meeting, said water was the "lifeblood" of the region and added that it must never be weaponised.In Nepal, officials said security forces recovered more bodies from eight districts, taking the death toll from the flash floods to 1,003. Nearly 4,000 people were still missing. Authorities also issued a fresh flood alert for several districts in the eastern, central and western parts of the country, and asked people living near rivers to remain vigilant and take precautionary measures. The Indian Embassy in Nepal issued a detailed procedure for the identification and repatriation of the mortal remains of foreign nationals, including Indians, killed in the floods. India's specialised tunnel rescue team also made progress at two hydropower sites in Nepal, with the Indian envoy in Kathmandu saying the team had established a foothold inside a tunnel at Chilime and probed up to 185 metres at Langtang.Nepal has also begun a diplomatic push to seek climate-related compensation from greenhouse gas emitters for the destruction caused by the floods. It said post-disaster assistance should be treated as a matter of "moral liability" and "not charity". Alongside the physical damage, the disaster has left a psychological toll, with children waking from nightmares, adults dealing with fear and anxiety, and families separated by the floodwaters trying to find one another.In Ukraine, Zelenskyy said an Indian citizen was among 12 people killed in the latest Russian attacks. He said drones and ballistic missiles struck several cities, damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure.The day brought together major developments across the region, from Modi's push at the SCO for tougher action against terrorism and his conclusion of the Central Asia visit, to the worsening flood emergency in Nepal and the latest civilian deaths reported in Ukraine.With PTI Inputs- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Sep 1, 2026 17:12 IST