SCO Meet: Chinese Defence Minister seeks meeting with Rajnath Singh amid India-China border standoff

New Delhi, Sept 4: In the midst of rising tensions in eastern Ladakh between India and China, the Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe has sought a meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the three-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Moscow.

 

 

 

 

According to the reports that the Chinese Defence Minister has sought to meet Rajnath Singh during the SCO meeting. If confirmed, the meeting will most probably take place on Friday evening. Earlier, it was said that a meeting with his Chinese counterpart during the three-day event was not on Singh's schedule.

 

This comes as India had recently foiled the moves made by China on taking control over the southern bank of Pangong lake along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Indian Army thwarted three attempts by the Chinese army to transgress into Indian areas near the southern bank of Pangong Tso near Chushul in Ladakh on the intervening night of 29th and 30th Aug and later again on 31st Aug.

 

Following this, at least two rounds of Brigade-Commander level talks have taken place ever since China tried to unilaterally change the status quo. Even the MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava speaking at the weekly briefing on Thursday said, "the way ahead is negotiations, both through the diplomatic and military channels. The Indian side is firmly committed to resolving all outstanding issues through peaceful dialogue."

 

In the same briefing, India urges the Chinese side to sincerely engage the Indian side with the objective of expeditiously restoring the peace and tranquillity in the border areas through complete disengagement and de-escalation in accordance with the bilateral agreements and protocols.

 

Meanwhile, the External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar responding to questions Thursday on his book ‘The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World’, noted, "I am totally convinced that the solution to the situation (on the LAC) has to be found in the domain of diplomacy. And I say that with responsibility."

 

Yesterday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Russian counterpart General Sergey Shoigu in Moscow wherein the duo discussed deepening the defence and strategic cooperation between both the two countries.

 

Singh is on a three-day visit to Russia to attend the combined meeting of Defence Ministers of SCO. He will also attend the gatherings of Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and participate in the 75th Anniversary Event commemorating Victory Day of the Russian Federation.