Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India…reports Asian Lite News
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu will make his maiden visit to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting planned to be held this week, said Chinese Defence Ministry.
The Chinese Defence Ministry said that from Thursday to Friday (April 27, 28), the Chinese Defence Minister will take part in SCO and will make a speech and meet with the head of delegations from other countries. Global Times, in a tweet, said, “Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister Li Shangfu will attend a defence ministers’ meeting among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from Thursday to Friday in India. He will make a speech and meet with head of delegations from other countries: Chinese Defence Ministry.”
Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India.
Li Shangfu, a US-sanctioned general, was named as China’s new Defence Minister a month ago. Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 and his appointment comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Washington.
Li Shangfu, an aerospace expert, was voted unanimously by the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress to replace outgoing defence chief Wei Fenghe.
China and India have a long history of border transgressions and a recent one was witnessed in December 2022 in Arunachal Pradesh.
Prior to that, a clash was witnessed in Galwan in June 2020 when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the Galwan Valley clash which was fought in hand-to-hand combat in sub-zero temperatures on the near pitch-black night of June 15 and June 16, 2020.
Rajnath likely to hold talks with Chinese counterpart
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart. Before the SCO meet, the 18th round of India-China Corps Commander level talks held on Sunday, but it failed to make headway on the contentious issue of the Depsang Plains and de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
The repeated attempts by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to violate the LAC, leading to tension in Ladakh, spurred the institution of the Corps Commander-level meetings.
While the two sides agreed on mutual withdrawals from Pangong Tso, Gogra, and Hot Springs, the Depsang Plains and Demchok remain points of contention and tension.
The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism. According to the Defence Ministry officials, the theme of India’s Chairmanship of 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 ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has share
Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu will make his maiden visit to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting planned to be held this week, said Chinese Defence Ministry.
The Chinese Defence Ministry said that from Thursday to Friday (April 27, 28), the Chinese Defence Minister will take part in SCO and will make a speech and meet with the head of delegations from other countries. Global Times, in a tweet, said, “Chinese State Councilor and Defence Minister Li Shangfu will attend a defence ministers’ meeting among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation from Thursday to Friday in India. He will make a speech and meet with head of delegations from other countries: Chinese Defence Ministry.”
Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India.
Li Shangfu, a US-sanctioned general, was named as China’s new Defence Minister a month ago. Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 and his appointment comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Washington.
Li Shangfu, an aerospace expert, was voted unanimously by the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress to replace outgoing defence chief Wei Fenghe.
China and India have a long history of border transgressions and a recent one was witnessed in December 2022 in Arunachal Pradesh.
Prior to that, a clash was witnessed in Galwan in June 2020 when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in eastern Ladakh. Twenty Indian soldiers died in the Galwan Valley clash which was fought in hand-to-hand combat in sub-zero temperatures on the near pitch-black night of June 15 and June 16, 2020.
Rajnath likely to hold talks with Chinese counterpart
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart. Before the SCO meet, the 18th round of India-China Corps Commander level talks held on Sunday, but it failed to make headway on the contentious issue of the Depsang Plains and de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
The repeated attempts by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to violate the LAC, leading to tension in Ladakh, spurred the institution of the Corps Commander-level meetings.
While the two sides agreed on mutual withdrawals from Pangong Tso, Gogra, and Hot Springs, the Depsang Plains and Demchok remain points of contention and tension.
The Defence Ministers will discuss amongst other issues matters concerning regional peace and security, counter terrorism efforts within SCO and an effective multilateralism. According to the Defence Ministry officials, the theme of India’s Chairmanship of 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 ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilisational linkages, and is considered India’s extended neighbourhood civilisational linkages, and is considered India’s extended neighbourhood.