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Rajnath Singh stresses border management to Chinese counterpart at SCO meet
Rajnath Singh tells China a structured and permanent engagement is key to resolving border issues, while also flagging the Pahalgam attack at the SCO defence ministers' meet
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun on Thursday that a structured roadmap of permanent engagement and de-escalation would help to solve complex India-China border issues, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a media statement on Friday.
Singh 'stressed on border management and to have a permanent solution of border demarcation by rejuvenating the established mechanism on the issue', the MoD statement said.
Singh met Dong in Qingdao, China, on the sidelines of the defence ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Thursday.
In-depth discussions on the need to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Indo-China border were held during the bilateral meeting, the statement said. It added that Singh acknowledged the work being undertaken by both sides to bring back a 'semblance of normalcy' in the bilateral relationship. He emphasised the need to create good neighbourly conditions to achieve best mutual benefits, as well as to cooperate for stability in Asia and the world.
Singh urged bridging the trust deficit created after the Galwan River valley standoff in 2020, 'by taking action on ground'.
At least 24 Indian and Chinese soldiers were killed in the clash that led to the freezing of bilateral relations, which have started thawing since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of a Brics summit in Russia in October.
The two ministers agreed to continue discussions at various levels to achieve progress on issues related to disengagement, de-escalation, border management and 'eventually de-limitation through existing mechanisms', the statement said.
Singh briefed Dong on the terrorist attack in the Indian town of Pahalgam on April 22, when 26 people were killed in a targeted manner, and on Operation Sindoor, India's military campaign two weeks later against terrorist camps in Pakistan that India said were linked to the attack.
India refused to sign an intended SCO communique on Thursday, because it didn't include the Pahalgam terrorist attack, among other concerns.
Singh also met Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov in Qingdao, where they discussed the production of air defence items and air-to-air missiles, as well as the supply of Russian-made S-400 systems and Su-30 MKI fighter jet upgrades.
India deployed the S-400 missile system, which is integrated with its indigenous platforms, effectively during the four-day conflict with Pakistan after Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7.
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