SCO: China’s Defense Minister may hold a bilateral meeting with Rajnath Singh
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: The visiting Chinese Defense Minister General Li Shangfu is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh later this week, the media reported on Monday.
General Li, a close confidante of President Xi Jinping, will be on a two-day maiden visit to India to attend the Defense Ministers’ track of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), to be held on April 27 and 28.
Li, who has been sanctioned by the US for buying arms from Russia, succeeded Wei Fenghe as Defense Minister in March. This is the first time a Chinese Defence Minister will be setting foot in India after the violent Galwan clash between Indian and Chinese troops in June 2020.
On Sunday, the two countries’ army officials held their 18th round of talks to resolve the issues after the Chinese aggression on Eastern Ladakh.
General Li’s visit is expected to mark a gradual drawing down of troops by both sides that are currently standing in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Eastern Ladakh sector.
China has indicated that it wants to reduce the tension levels soaring across the LAC even as Beijing plans to focus its military on the Taiwan Straits as acrimony with the US increases.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to meet Li on the sidelines of the SCO meeting to discuss the sanctity of border protocols and maintenance of border patrolling points, the media reported.
An easing of ties may also pave the way for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India for the SCO Summit, expected to take place in July.
China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who attended the G-20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in India last month, will be coming again for the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting scheduled in Goa on May 4 and 5.
During the G-20 meeting, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar told his Chinese counterpart that the Sino-Indian ties have become “abnormal” and there are “real problems” facing their bilateral relations.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war may also have prompted China and India to come closer. Neither is New Delhi keen on “shoving away China too much” when Moscow and Beijing are enhancing their “no limits” partnership announced in February 2022 days before President Putin declared war on Ukraine nor is China ready to provoke India further as it braces for its Taiwan adventure.
After assuming charge, Li undertook his first official foreign trip to Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin and other senior Kremlin officials to enhance their military-technical cooperation and also conduct more joint military drills.
Li’s India visit this week comes in the backdrop of the 18th Corps Commander-level talks between India and China that began on Sunday aiming to reduce tensions and disengage troops at the LAC. Both sides have been in a bitter military standoff since April 2020, resulting in a breakdown of bilateral relations between New Delhi and Beijing.
