Violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and the development of India-China ties is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu on Thursday.
This is the first high-level military visit from China since the start of the Ladakh Standoff in April 2020.
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Just five days before the bilateral, the two countries held the 18th round of Corps Commander talks as part of the continuing dialogue to resolve the standoff which remained inconclusive in which both sides agreed that restoring peace along the border areas would “enable progress” in recently strained relations.
“The two Ministers had frank discussions about the developments in the India-China border areas as well as bilateral relations,” a Defence Ministry statement said after the bilateral talks. “He reiterated that violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation.”
All issues at LAC need to be resolved in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and commitments, Mr. Singh further stated.
Defence sources said that Mr. Singh categorically stated that military cooperation between the two countries can progress “only” if peace and tranquility is established at the border. “ He said after disengagement, there should be movement towards de-escalation and expressed hope for positive response. India wants to improve relations with China but it can happen only after peace and tranquility are restored at the border,” a source stated.
The Chinese Minister and State Counsellor is in New Delhi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting scheduled on April 28.
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Defence Ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan are set to participate in the SCO meeting. India has also invited Belarus and Iran, currently observers in SCO, for the meeting. The Defence Minister of Pakistan would be participating virtually. The Ministers will discuss matters related to regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism, the Defence Ministry stated.
India became a full member of SCO grouping in 2017. India has ancient civilizational, cultural and spiritual ties with the SCO member countries, the Ministry said in a statement adding that India considers SCO as an “important regional group to promote multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.”
As the SCO Chair, India organised two defence-related activities to enhance interoperability amongst member states, a workshop on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and the second a seminar of SCO countries’ defence think tanks on the issue of armed forces contributing to military medicine, healthcare and pandemics.
“SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, equality of all member States and mutual understanding and respect for opinions of each of them,” a Ministry statement added.
Since the stand-off began in May 2020, the two sides have so far held 18 rounds of talks with disengagement undertaken from both sides of Pangong Tso in February 2021, from Patrolling Point (PP) 17 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area in August and PP15 in early November, in addition to Galwan in 2020 after the violent clash. While India maintains that friction points at Demchok and Depsang remain, China has refused to accept them, terming them as legacy issues predating the 2020 standoff.
