India's Operation Sindoor echoes at SCO: NSA Doval urges action against Pakistan-backed terrorism

NSA Ajit Doval urged SCO nations to act decisively against Pakistan-backed terror groups following the Pahalgam attack and India’s launch of Operation Sindoor.

In a stern message aimed at Pakistan-sponsored terror networks, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday called on members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to hold accountable the “perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors” of cross-border terrorism.

Addressing a high-level conclave of top security officials of the SCO, Doval minced no words as he expressed India’s growing frustration over the continued threat posed by terror groups operating with impunity across the border. The comments, coming weeks after the deadly Pahalgam attack, reflect New Delhi's intent to internationalise the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan.

"India is deeply concerned about continued threat from UN-proscribed terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Al Qaeda, ISIS and its affiliates," Doval said, laying bare the names of groups that India has long accused Pakistan of sheltering or supporting.

Operation Sindoor Aimed At Dismantling Terror

In a rare public acknowledgment, Doval said India had launched Operation Sindoor following the Pahalgam terror strike — a premeditated attack in which 26 Indian and Nepalese nationals lost their lives, targeted after being segregated by religion. The strike was carried out by The Resistance Front (TRF), a known proxy of LeT.

"India launched Operation Sindoor to dismantle terror infrastructure and deter terrorists from carrying out attacks in India following the Pahalgam terror strike," he said, adding that New Delhi's response was "measured and non-escalatory".

India's message at the SCO meeting was both assertive and pragmatic. Doval did not just point fingers; he also laid out a vision for collective action.

He stressed the need for SCO nations to abandon "double standards" in the fight against terrorism and insisted that decisive action must be taken against "UN-proscribed terrorists and entities like LeT, JeM and their proxies".

Doval called on members to help bring to justice the forces behind terror attacks. "Any act of terror including cross-border terrorism is a crime against humanity," he said.

Joint Information Operation To Tackle Terrorism

Pushing for concrete action beyond rhetoric, the NSA also proposed coordinated efforts among SCO nations to tackle the growing menace of radical extremism. He said there is a need to launch a "joint information operation" to counter terrorism, separatism and extremism — a proposal that, if acted upon, could pave the way for intelligence sharing and collaborative counter-terror frameworks among member states.

Doval’s statements come at a time when India is reeling from the emotional and strategic aftermath of the Pahalgam killings, and are seen as a direct message to SCO member Pakistan to dismantle the terror ecosystem operating from its soil.

India, which has repeatedly raised the issue of cross-border terrorism at global forums, is now pressing for multilateral accountability mechanisms — with the hope that collective pressure from regional allies could push Islamabad to act.