Rajnath Singh at SCO Bishkek: 'Terror Epicentres Are No Longer Immune' — India Cites Operation Sindoor Before Anniversary

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh delivered India's sharpest multilateral warning to Pakistan at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' Meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on April 28, 2026 — nine days before the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor (May 7, 2025). Singh declared: 'Operation Sindoor demonstrated our firm resolve that terror epicentres are no longer immune to justifiable punishment.' He stated 'Terrorism has no nationality, no theology' and called on SCO members to reject any 'double standards' in combating state-sponsored terrorism, urging action against those who 'abate, shelter and provide safe havens to terrorists' — a clear reference to Pakistan without naming it. Singh also held a bilateral meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun on the sidelines, and gifted two indigenously developed Bhishm Aarogya Maitri Health Cubes to Kyrgyzstan. The speech represents India's pre-anniversary diplomatic strategy: embedding the Sindoor precedent into multilateral frameworks to legitimize the new doctrine that cross-border militant support triggers direct military consequences. Singh had arrived in Bishkek on April 27 to a warm diaspora welcome. China is also an SCO member; the bilateral meeting with Dong Jun signals India's parallel effort to manage the two-front strategic context.