Rajnath in Dushanbe: no double standards

This note is verified. The reel was posted at 1:20 pm IST on 20 October 2026. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh represented India at the 25th meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Council of Heads of Government, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. News18, and a Press Information Bureau curtain-raiser of 18 October, PRID 2324852, put the meeting on 19 and 20 October 2026. The address described in the reports was given on Tuesday, 20 October. He spoke in Hindi. The English sentences in this note come from The Times of India and News18, as reports of that Hindi address. They are not an English text issued by the ministry.

The Times of India carries this passage: "There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorism, and no place for those who finance, support or provide safe havens to terrorists. The entire ecosystem of terrorism must be firmly and collectively dismantled." The same report carries a second passage: "Terrorism not only causes the loss of innocent lives but also disrupts investment and commerce. It radicalises society and deprives our youth of the opportunities they deserve." News18 and IANS report the address as saying that there is no justification for terrorism, and that there can be no double standards in dealing with it. The desk brief's account of the speech uses those same two points: no justification, and no double standards, with a call to dismantle, collectively, the networks that finance, support or shelter terrorists.

The Times of India, News18 and Open report that Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, was present. That is the fact those reports give about him: he was in the meeting.

On connectivity, News18 reports this sentence: "India supports connectivity that links markets, facilitates trade and creates new opportunities for growth." The same report says he named the International North-South Transport Corridor, INSTC, and Chabahar port. The brief's account of the address says he backed those two links for connecting Central Asia with wider markets. The caption records the same support for INSTC and for Chabahar.

On the sidelines he met Tajikistan's Prime Minister, Qohir Rosulzoda, and Iran's First Vice President, Mohammad Reza Aref. The Times of India and Rajnath Singh's own post on X are the sources the brief cites for those two meetings. Open's report is one of the six sources for the session, including Dar's presence. The footage in the reel is from the minister's official account on X.

The PIB curtain-raiser, written on 18 October before the Dushanbe meeting, also notes the previous Council of Heads of Government meeting. That one was in Moscow on 18 November 2025, and India was represented by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar.

The picture on this page is a frame from the reel. The credit is exact: footage courtesy of Rajnath Singh on X, his official account.