New Delhi (NVI): Amid heightened tensions at LAC in Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghei in Moscow tonight, on the sidelines of Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) meet.
The meeting between the two leaders was not on cards but they held talks amid mounting tensions between India and China over an escalating border row in the Ladakh region. As per reports, Gen. Wei Fenghei had requested the meeting with the Indian leader yesterday.
Earlier in the day, Rajnath who is on a three-day visit to Moscow, said that peace and security in SCO region demands a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms.
“Peaceful, stable and secure region of SCO member states – which is home to over 40 per cent of global population, demands a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms, sensitivity to each other’s interest and peaceful resolution of differences,” he said.
The Defence Minister made the remarks in the presence of his Chinese counterpart who he is meeting tonight. He was addressing the Combined Meeting of Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Member States in Moscow.
“If I may borrow an idea articulated by our Prime Minister in a different context, our goal should be ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region’,” Rajnath added.
Both India and China are members of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation or SCO, an eight-nation regional grouping that primarily focuses on security and defence issues.
The meeting between the two leaders also takes place a day after the Indian government banned 118 Chinese mobile applications including PUBG.
India and China are engaged in a bitter stand-off over the past four months due to an escalating border row between the two countries. The tensions between the two countries flared up in June after 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives, including a Colonel rank officer, in a bloody face-off in Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh. An unconfirmed number of Chinese troops were also killed in the deadly clashes.
The ongoing military and diplomatic level dialogues to ease tensions at LAC again received a jolt over the last weekend as the Chinese troops made an attempt to change the status quo on the Southern Bank of Pangong Tso Lake along LAC but it was thwarted by the Indian Army. The incident took place on the intervening night of last Saturday and Sunday.
On top of that, the Chinese troops again engaged in “provocative action” along the LAC on Monday, even as the ground commanders of the two sides were in discussions to de-escalate the situation. That brazen attempt too was thwarted by the alert Indian troops.
Meanwhile, Indian Army Chief General MM Naravane today said that the situation along LAC in Eastern Ladakh is “slightly tense”, but the Indian Army has taken ample precautionary steps to thwart any further misadventure by Chinese troops and safeguard India’s territorial integrity in the region.
Gen. Naravane is on a two-day visit to Ladakh since yesterday to review the operational preparedness in the wake of fresh incursion attempts by the Chinese Army.
-ARK
