Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu, who will visit India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on April 27 and 28, will meet his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh for the first time since the vexed standoff between the armies of both countries in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.
General Li, who is considered a close associate of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is expected to hold talks with Singh on ending the eastern Ladakh standoff.
India, as the Chair of the SCO 2023, will host the Defence Ministers’ meeting on April 28 in Delhi. SCO is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2001. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the meeting.
“The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism.," a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence said, adding, “Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of participating countries on the sidelines of the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meet."
The theme of India’s Chairmanship of SCO 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 ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilisational linkages, and is considered India’s extended neighbourhood.
China on SCO Meet
Earlier in the day, China announced that General Li will visit India during which he is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Singh on the eastern Ladakh standoff. “Upon invitation, Chinese State Councillor and Defence Minister General Li Shangfu will attend the meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in New Delhi, India, from April 27-28,” China’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) said in a statement.
“During the meeting, General Li will address the conference and meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of the international and regional situation, as well as defence and security cooperation”, the statement said.
Ladakh Standoff Latest Developments
India and China agreed during their 18th round of the Corps Commander-level talks on Sunday to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the “remaining issues" in eastern Ladakh at the earliest, but there was no indication of clear forward movement in ending their three-year-long border standoff.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Monday said the two sides had a “frank and in-depth" discussion on the resolution of the “relevant" issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western sector. The government refers to eastern Ladakh as Western sector.
“The two sides agreed to stay in close contact and maintain dialogue through military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest. The two sides had a frank and in-depth discussion on the resolution of the relevant issues along the LAC in the Western sector so as to restore peace and tranquillity in the border areas, which will enable progress in bilateral relations," the MEA said.
The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area. The ties between the India and China deteriorated following a clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades. As a result of a series of military and diplomatic talks, the two sides have completed the disengagement process on the north and south banks of the Pangong lake and in the Gogra area.
(with inputs from PTI)
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