Rajnath meets Chinese counterpart in Bishkek; talks focus on LAC peace, West Asia crisis

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday met his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun in Bishkek to discuss maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and broader regional security concerns including the West Asia crisis. The meeting, held on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' conclave, came as New Delhi and Beijing move to repair their frosty relations. ''It was a pleasure to interact with the Defence Minister of China Admiral Dong Jun during the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting in Bishkek,'' Singh said on social media. The defence ministry said Singh and Dong shared views on the regional and global security landscape, especially the developments in West Asia. It is learnt that the two ministers also discussed the situation along the LAC and underlined the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas. In the last few months, both sides have initiated a series of measures to reset their ties that came under severe strain following the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in June 2020. Following a series of diplomatic and military talks, the two sides withdrew their troops from several friction points along the LAC in eastern Ladakh. In October 2024, the two sides firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points in eastern Ladakh. Days after the agreement was finalised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Kazan and took a number of decisions to improve the ties. In August last year, PM Modi travelled to Chinese city of Tianjin to attend the annual SCO summit. Modi and Xi held extensive talks on the sidelines of the SCO summit. In the meeting, Modi said India is committed to take forward its ties with China based on mutual trust, respect and sensitivity. Defence Minister Singh also met his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov. ''Great interaction with Russian Defence Minister, Andrei Belousov during the SCO Defence Ministers' Meet in Bishkek,'' Singh said. It is learnt that Singh and Belousov discussed various ongoing defence acquisition projects including Russia's supply of S-400 air defence missiles to India. In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to procure five units of the missile systems and three of them have already been delivered. The fourth unit is expected to be delivered in the next few days while the fifth one is likely to be sent in November. Last month, New Delhi cleared the procurement of a fresh batch of five S-400 missile systems from Russia that will take the total number to 10. Singh also met his counterpart from Belarus, Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin on the sidelines of the SCO meet. ''Delighted to meet the Minister of Defence of Belarus, Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin during the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting in Bishkek. Our talks focussed on strengthening defence cooperation between both the countries,'' Singh said on 'X'. The defence minister underlined that India attaches high priority to developing mutually beneficial partnership with Belarus and identified capacity building and training as among the major areas of cooperation, the defence ministry said. Singh also held separate bilateral meetings with his Kyrgyz and Kazakh counterparts. In the meeting with Kyrgyz Defence Minister Major General Mukambetov Ruslan Mustafaevich, Singh discussed ways to strengthen the existing bilateral defence cooperation. The defence minister landed in the capital city of Kyrgyzstan on Monday to attend the SCO conclave.

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