Rajnath Singh, China's Defence Minister Hold Crucial Bilateral Meeting Ahead Of SCO Defence Ministers' Meet

Rajnath Singh, Union Defence Minister, is scheduled to meet with Li Shangfu, his Chinese counterpart, before the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting on Friday.

Li will be visiting Delhi for the first time after the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.

The SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting will address topics related to regional peace and security, counterterrorism initiatives within the SCO, and promoting effective multilateralism.

Additionally, the meeting between Singh and Li could potentially cover the resolution of issues along the Line of Actual Control, reported The Indian Express.

India and China's 18th high-level military talks took place last week at Chushul-Moldo in eastern Ladakh, focusing on strategies to avoid border confrontations and establish confidence-building measures for the upcoming months.

Singh will meet with defence ministers from participating countries on 27-28 April to discuss defence-related and mutual interest matters.

The SCO comprises India, Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan. Belarus and Iran will attend the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting as observer countries.

Pakistan's Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend a meeting with India virtually, as stated by the Defence Ministry on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to address the ongoing issues with Russia at the upcoming event, which will also be attended by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

Some of the issues on the table include the conflict that is affecting the scheduled supply of weapons and spares, as well as India's outstanding payments to Russia.

The Defence Ministry has announced that India's chairmanship theme for the 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 Ministry stated.