AMN WEB DESK
Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh today held a bilateral meeting with Chinses counterpart General Li Shangfu on the sideline of SCO meet in New Delhi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO member countries in New Delhi today. During the meeting, bilateral defence-related issues and other matters of mutual interest are being discussed.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday told his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu that China’s violation of agreements along the frontier in eastern Ladakh “eroded” the entire basis of bilateral ties and that all issues must be resolved in accordance with the existing pacts.
At a nearly 45-minute meeting with Li, amid the three-year border row, Singh also conveyed to the Chinese defence minister that the development of India-China ties is premised on prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the border. Li’s visit to New Delhi to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is the first by a Chinese defence minister to India after the eastern Ladakh border standoff began in May 2020.
Mr Singh will chair the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting in New Delhi tomorrow. Defence Ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in the meeting.
India has invited Belarus and Iran, currently observers in SCO, to participate in the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting. The Defence Minister of Pakistan would be participating virtually. The Ministers will discuss matters related to regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism.
India has ancient civilisational, cultural and spiritual ties with the SCO member countries. India’s membership of SCO in 2017, was, therefore, a reaffirmation of New Delhi’s keenness to deepen these historic ties. India considers SCO as an important regional group to promote multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.
