Rajnath to hold talks with Chinese counterpart during SCO meet

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting in Delhi. 

The two leaders will meet on April 27. They are likely to discuss the prolonged eastern Ladakh standoff which has severely strained bilateral ties, sources told Defence Watch. 

The two leaders will be meeting for the first time since both Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a deadly clash in eastern Ladakh's Galwan valley in May 2020, resulting in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.

Rajnath Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of participating countries on the side-lines of the SCO defence ministers' meeting. 

Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism.

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 April 28.

India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region, the defence ministry said.

SCO pursues its policy 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.

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