New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu ahead of the SCO defence ministers’ meeting in New Delhi.
He said all issues along the LAC need to be resolved in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and commitments.
In a statement after the meeting, the Defence Ministry said the two ministers had an “open discussion” about the development of India-China border areas as well as bilateral relations. Rajnath Singh reiterated that the violation of existing agreements has destroyed the entire basis of bilateral relations.
The talks took place after Shangfu arrived in Delhi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting. India is hosting the SCO defence ministers’ meeting. This is the first visit of the Chinese Defence Minister to India after the border dispute in eastern Ladakh three years ago.
Apart from this, Rajnath Singh also held bilateral meetings with the Defense Ministers of Kazakhstan, Iran and Tajikistan. On Sunday, the 18th round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China took place. However, at this meeting, there was no clear indication of them moving forward to end the three-year-long border standoff.
India says that unless there is peace in the border areas, its relations with China cannot be normalized.