Amid pandemic, some busy exporting terror: S Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: The raging coronavirus pandemic has not prevented terrorism from being a persistent challenge in the region, India told foreign ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation countries in the first-ever virtual conference on Wednesday.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar told the group, which included Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, “Even as the world fights Covid-19, some are busy spreading other deadly viruses like terrorism. Fake news and doctored videos are also used to divide communities and countries.”
The last was a reference to a social media storm from fake handles that accused India and Indians of Islamophobia in the Gulf states, driving a wedge with India and threatening ties with these states. “Due to Covid-19, we have all seen any prospect of growth evaporate before our very eyes. For a society like India, it means that many will not come out of poverty for no fault of theirs. They have little understanding and even less control over why this happened. The crisis has resulted in disruption of production networks and supply chains reverberating across the globe. It is pertinent for SCO member states to jointly identify and sustain new means of economic growth,” the foreign minister said.
Qureshi pushed back against India, saying terrorism-related allegations must not be used as a political tool to malign and victimise any country or religion.