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A crew of five died on Monday after an army helicopter crashed in Diamer District’s Chilas town in Gilgit-Baltistan after developing a “technical fault”, the military’s media wing said in a statement.

“On 1 Sep 25, at around 1000 hours, an MI-17 helicopter crash landed near Hudor village, approximately 12 kilometres away from Thakdas Cantonment,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in the statement. “The helicopter was on routine training flying when it developed a technical fault and crashed.”

It added that all crew members on board were martyred as a result of the crash.

The crew members were identified as Major Atif, who was the pilot in command, Major Faisal, the co-pilot, flight engineer Naib Subedar Maqbool, and crew chiefs Havaldar Jahangir and Naik Amir, according to the ISPR.

Earlier, Diamer Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Abdul Hameed, in a statement, had confirmed the incident, saying that the helicopter was conducting a test landing on a newly proposed helipad when it crashed.

He said that the Diamer police and rescue teams had reached the incident site to start the evacuation.

Separately, GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, in a statement, said he had issued directions to impose an emergency at Chilas Hospital and ordered the immediate availability of medical staff.

He also expressed his condolences and paid tribute to the martyred personnel. “The sacrifice of the martyrs of the helicopter crash is a source of pride for the nation,” he said.

Earlier this month, a rescue helicopter crashed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district, killing two pilots and three crew members. The helicopter was dispatched with supplies following flash flooding in the region.

In 2024, at least six people died and eight others were critically injured after a helicopter of a petroleum company crashed near the Shewa oil field in North Waziristan.

The 10-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Monday (September 1, 2025) “strongly condemned” terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including the April 22 Pahalgam attack, and the attacks on Jaffer Express and Khuzdar in Pakistan.

The Tianjin Declaration, signed and adopted by all members including India, Pakistan, and Russia, also called for an end to “cross-border movement” of terrorists. The declaration reaffirmed the bloc’s “firm commitment to fight against terrorism, separatism, and extremism”, and stressed the inadmissibility of attempts to use terrorist, separatist, and extremist groups for “mercenary purposes”. 

The declaration at the summit, which focused on strengthening the Global South amid global uncertainties in trade and a “fluid and chaotic global situation”, opened by stating that the world was undergoing “profound historical changes that affect all spheres of political, socio-economic, and social relations”.

The member states also opposed “unilateral coercive measures, including those of an economic nature”, that contravene the United Nations charter and principles of the World Trade Organisation, in a possible reference to the U.S. tariffs. 

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Chinese President Xi Jinping, who chaired the meeting of the heads of the member states, in his opening remarks criticised the “bullying behaviour” in the world order and called on leaders to “adhere to fairness and justice” while opposing “cold war mentality”.  

“The shadows of Cold War mentality, bullying, are not dissipating, and there are new challenges that are increasing, not diminishing,” said Mr. Xi, who has often used the term “cold war mentality” to refer to the uncertainties over the U.S. tariffs. 

Mr. Xi, who chaired the ‘SCO plus’ meeting on Monday afternoon, proposed a Global Governance Initiative (GGI), calling on countries to work in concert for a more just and equitable global governance system adhering to sovereign equality, abiding by international rule of law, practicing multilateralism, advocating the people-centered approach, and focusing on taking real actions. 

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, following the summit on Monday night, said the GGI aims at supporting the UN’s central role in international affairs and encouraging countries to participate in the reform of global governance system by relying on multilateral mechanisms. He also said that Pakistan and Armenia had announced development of diplomatic relationship at the summit.

Announcing that the grouping has decided to merge the statuses given to non-member countries — dialogue partner and observer — to a single partner status, Mr. Wang said that Laos has been accepted as a partner country of the SCO, taking the total strength of the grouping to 27 with 10 members and 17 partners.

Secretary-General of the SCO, Nurlan Yermekbayev, said at the briefing that an agreement was made at the summit to establish an SCO development bank, a long-term ambition of Beijing. 

Taking note of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian situation engulfing the Gaza Strip, all the member states expressed “deep concern” and strongly condemned “actions that have led to numerous casualties among the civilian population” in the enclave. A “comprehensive and just settlement” of the Palestinian issue is the only way to ensure peace in West Asia, the declaration said.  

India also joined the fellow members of the grouping to strongly condemn the military strikes by Israel and the U.S. against Iran, a member state, in June that targeted Tehran’s nuclear facilities. The member states reaffirmed the importance of the UN Security Council resolution 2231 which included provisions for lifting sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme.  

The declaration also took note of the political situation in Afghanistan, which holds an observer status in the grouping but did not attend the summit. The members reiterated that the formation of an “inclusive government with broad participation of representatives of all ethno-political groups” of the society is the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.  

All the member states, except India, also reaffirmed their support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative.  

Mr. Xi, in his opening remarks, also pledged to provide ¥2 billion in grants to member countries within this year, and an additional ¥10 billion in loan to member banks of the SCO Interbank Consortium over the next three years. He also said that the group should set up an “SCO development bank” as soon as possible.  

The declaration also welcomed a resolution by the annual UN General Assembly that called for “combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to escalating contemporary forms of racism, xenophobia and related intolerance”.  

(With inputs from Suhasini Haider)

The writer is in China at an invitation from the China Public Diplomacy Association.

Published – September 01, 2025 11:49 am IST