North News
New Delhi, November 14
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun are likely to meet next week in Laos on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Minister’s Plus meeting (ADMM-Plus), an annual gathering that includes ASEAN defence ministers and their counterparts from Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States. The Chinese side has requested the meeting, which is expected to be the first ministerial meeting between India and China since the Kazan summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Kazan meeting was seen as a breakthrough in the normalization of ties between the two countries.
Earlier this month, India and China conducted a joint patrol at friction points in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh, following a recent troop disengagement in the area. Both sides have agreed to a weekly coordinated patrol to manage tensions that have simmered since the 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley.
This upcoming meeting comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the need for peace and stability along the India-China border during their meeting at the 16th BRICS Summit in Kazan on November 23. Modi stressed that mutual trust and respect should remain key priorities for both nations.
The leaders welcomed the recent agreement to fully disengage troops and resolve the 2020 border standoff. They also agreed that the Special Representatives on the boundary issue would meet soon to ensure continued management of the situation and work toward a fair resolution.
Both Modi and Xi highlighted the importance of stable India-China relations for regional and global peace, emphasizing that such stability is essential to the development of a multi-polar world. They also called for enhanced strategic communication and cooperation to address shared developmental challenges.
