India's Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: Five years years after the intense Sino-India border conflict in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will fly to China leading a delegation to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting at Qingdao on June 25-26.
Singh will be the first senior Indian minister to travel to the communist country post the 2020 Galwan episode even though he, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi met their Chinese counterparts at neutral venues several times in order to find out ways to end the confrontation.
The defence minister will have bilateral talks with his counterparts from China and Russia on the sidelines of the multilateral forum to discuss global and regional issues like the volatile situation in west Asia and how New Delhi reacted to terror strikes emanating from Pakistan.
At the SCO meeting, the defence ministers are expected to discuss regional and international peace and security issues, counter-terrorism efforts and cooperation among the member states.
Singh will highlight India’s continued commitment to the principles and mandate of the SCO, outline India’s vision towards achieving greater international peace & security and call for joint and consistent efforts to eliminate terrorism and extremism in the region, the defence ministry said.
Other issues to be flagged are the need for greater trade, economic cooperation and connectivity within the SCO.
While the SCO was established in 2001, India became a full member in 2017 and assumed the rotating chairmanship in 2023. Besides India, the membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus.
China has assumed the Chair of the SCO for 2025 under the theme ‘Upholding the Shanghai Spirit: SCO on the Move’.
The Defence Ministry says India attaches a special importance to the ten-nation outfit in promoting multilateralism, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region. The SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, mutual respect, understanding and equality of all member states.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is also in China to participate in a SCO conclave of national security officials. This is Doval’s second visit to China in six months as he travelled to Beijing last December to hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi under the framework of Special Representatives dialogue on the boundary dispute.