Rajnath begins China visit

New Delhi, Jun 25 (PTI) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday arrived in the Chinese port city of Qingdao to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

It is the first visit to China by a senior Indian minister after the ties came under severe strain following the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that began in May 2020.

Singh was received at the Qingdao airport by Indian ambassador Pradeep Kumar Rawat.

In line with India's diplomatic offensive against Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism, Singh is set to press the SCO to ramp up efforts to contain terrorism at the conclave on Thursday.

The defence minister is expected to highlight India's continued commitment to the principles and mandate of the SCO, outline India's vision towards achieving greater international peace and security, call for joint and consistent efforts to eliminate terrorism and extremism in the region.

Singh is expected to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese and Russian counterparts on the sidelines of the SCO conclave.

"Looking forward to present India's vision for global peace and security and also, call for joint and consistent efforts to eliminate terrorism," he said in a post on X.

China is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of SCO.

The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.

The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21.

In December, NSA Ajit Doval visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi under the framework of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary dispute.

The decision to revive the SR mechanism and other such dialogue formats was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23.

The Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok. PTI MPB ZMN