NEW DELHI: Even as the India-China standoff in Eastern Ladakh is about to enter the fourth year, Defence Ministers of both countries will hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
This will be the first visit by Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu since the fatal clashes between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at Galwan in June 2020.
Confirming the bilateral meeting, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday said, “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the Defence Ministers of participating countries on the sidelines of the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meet.”
All the defence ministers from SCO countries barring Pakistan have confirmed their visit to New Delhi. Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif will join the event virtually.
India-Russia relations have also been facing complexities due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with Western nations having imposed sanctions on Russia.
India is the Chairman of the SCO in 2023. The MoD on Tuesday said, “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 SCO Defence Ministers meeting on 28 April 2023.”
The Defence Ministers will discuss issues concerning regional peace and security including counter terrorism efforts within the SCO and an effective multilateralism, the MoD added.
The Corps Commanders of India and China met on Sunday to discuss the easing of tensions. But there was no breakthrough as the standoff persists at Depsang and Demchok.
There have been a total of 18 rounds of Corps Commander level talks between India and China which have resulted in disengagement of troops from multiple points in Eastern Ladakh.
The SCO is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2001 based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member states and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them.
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 ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilizational linkages, and is considered India’s extended neighbourhood.