E-Paper
Rajnath Singh likely to meet Chinese defence minister on sidelines of SCO event
SCO has eight member states: India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
Defence minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of an upcoming meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on April 28, days after the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held the 18th round of military talks to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, officials familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
At the latest round of India-China corps commander level talks on April 23, the two sides agreed to maintain security and stability along LAC, stay in close contact and continue dialogue through military and diplomatic channels, and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues.
Also Read: Chinese defence minister Shangfu to visit India to attend SCO meet
The talks, however, did not yield an immediate breakthrough.
Singh will hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of participating countries on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministers’ meet on April 28, the defence ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
SCO has eight member states: India, China, Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Two observer countries Iran and Belarus will also take part in the meeting, the officials said.
“The defence ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO, and effective multilateralism. The theme of India’s chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is ‘Secure-SCO.’ India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region,” the statement said.
The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which it has shared civilizational linkages, it added.
Li’s visit to India is the first visit by a Chinese defence minister after the June 2020 Galwan clash that derailed bilateral ties.
20 Indian soldiers were killed in the seven-hour deadly conflict near Patrolling Point 14 in Galwan Valley.
According to India’s assessment, PLA’s casualties were twice as many as Indian Army’s though Beijing officially claimed that only four Chinese soldiers were killed.
The two sides have been locked in a border row in eastern Ladakh for almost three years.
Despite four rounds of disengagement from Galwan Valley, Pangong Tso, Gogra (PP-17A) and Hot Springs (PP-15), the Indian and Chinese armies still have more than 60,000 troops each and advanced weaponry deployed in the Ladakh theatre.
Problems at Depsang in Daulet Beg Oldi sector and Charding Nullah Junction (CNJ) in Demchok sector are still on the negotiating table.
On April 19, Singh had expressed confidence in the Indian Army to handle any contingency along the country’s border with China even as he said talks would continue for peaceful resolution of the lingering row in the Ladakh sector, and disengagement and de-escalation were the best way forward.
Singh is also expected to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on the sidelines of the meeting.
Shoigu will be visiting India for the first time after the Russia-Ukraine crisis erupted last year. The complications stemming from the wide-ranging sanctions slapped on Russia by the US and its allies on the back of the war in Ukraine have posed new challenges for the India-Russia defence relationship, put India’s military preparedness to the test, and assigned new urgency to reduce dependence on imported military hardware to stay battle-ready.
Pakistani defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will attend the meeting virtually, even though a delegation led by a brigadier from that country crossed the Wagah border on Tuesday to participate in the meeting, the officials said.
India is set to host the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in May. These meetings will culminate in the SCO Summit to be held in July, the first time India will host the event since joining the grouping in 2017.
