Defence Ministers of India, Russia, China and other member nations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Friday deliberated on pressing regional security challenges and related issues at a conclave hosted by New Delhi.
The meeting, chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, is also expected to review the overall situation in Afghanistan.
“India views SCO as an important organisation to promote defence cooperation among member states. We, as a nation, wish to further strengthen the spirit of trust and cooperation among the members of the SCO,” Singh said in his opening remarks.
Defence Ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan took part in the meeting physically while Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif was scheduled to participate in the meeting via video conference. Apart from these member nations, India invited two observer countries — Belarus and Iran — to participate in the Defence Ministers’ meet this time.
This is Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu’s first visit to Delhi since the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020.
Officials involved in the meeting preparations said the main focus of the deliberations would be on regional security situations including the developments in Afghanistan.
Shortly after a bilateral meet between the two countries on Thursday, Li said conditions along the tense, high-altitude border with India are “stable overall”. This was in sharp contrast with the far more pessimistic view from New Delhi. “China and India have far more common interests than differences,” Li was quoted after his meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. “At present, conditions on the China-Indian border are stable overall,” Li said. The sides should “take a long-term view, put the border issue at an appropriate place in bilateral relations, and promote the normalisation of the border situation as soon as possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, India’s defence ministry, in its statement, said China had eroded the “entire basis” of ties between the countries by flouting bilateral agreements, in reference to a 3-year-old standoff along their disputed border in the Ladakh region. The development of India-China relations “is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquility at the borders” and all border issues need to be resolved in accordance with existing agreements and commitments, Singh was quoted as saying.
