Chinese Defence Minister to visit India this week for SCO meet

New Delhi: Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu is arriving New Delhi on a two-day visit to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers Conference on April 27-28. This will be the first visit of a Chinese Defence Minister after the 2020 Galwan clash.

Li is likely to hold a bilateral meet with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the conference. Both the ministers are expected to discuss the sanctity of border protocols and maintenance of border patrolling points.

Official sources told Defence Watch that the visit can lead to a gradual drawing down of troops by both sides that are currently standing in an eyeball-to-eyeball situation at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Eastern Ladakh sector.

They also said Beijing is willing to reduce the tension levels soaring across the LAC even as it plans to put its military's focus on the Taiwan Straits as acrimony with the US increases. Also, the visit will pave the way for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India for the SCO Summit, which is likely to take place in July.

Sources said that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has also played a crucial role in pushing India New Delhi and Beijing to come closer, as India does not want to "shove away China too much" at a time when Moscow and Beijing are aiming to enhance their "no limits" partnership announced in February 2022 days before Putin declared war on Ukraine.

Li was appointed as the Defence Minister by Beijing last month succeeding Wei Fenghe. After assuming charge, he undertook his official foreign trip to Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin apart from his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu and other senior Kremlin officials.

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