Rajnath to focus on cooperation to counter terrorism at SCO meet in China

Rajnath's plan to call for greater regional cooperation comes nearly a month-and-a-half after India carried out precision strikes on terror infrastructures in Pakistan after the Pahalgam attack

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In line with India's diplomatic offensive against Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to press the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to ramp up efforts to contain terrorism at a two-day conclave of the bloc in China's Qingdao that begins on Wednesday.

Singh is travelling to Qingdao, a port city in China's eastern Shandong province, for the conclave which is expected to extensively deliberate on the evolving regional security scenario.

The defence minister's plan to call for greater regional cooperation to counter terrorism comes nearly a month-and-a-half after India carried out precision strikes on nine terror infrastructures in Pakistani territories in response to the horrific Pahalgam terror attack. 

 

It is the first visit to China by a senior Indian minister after the ties came under severe strain following the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that began in May 2020.

NSA Ajit Doval is also visiting China to attend a conclave of SCO's top national security officials.

Singh is expected to highlight India's continued commitment to the principles and mandate of the SCO, outline India's vision towards achieving greater international peace and security, call for joint and consistent efforts to eliminate terrorism and extremism in the region, according to an official readout.

It said the defence minister is also expected to stress on the need for greater trade, economic cooperation and connectivity within SCO. 

 

He will also hold bilateral meetings with the defence ministers of some participating countries, including China and Russia.

"India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateralism, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region," the defence ministry said in the readout.

It says SCO pursues its policy based on the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity of nations, non-interference in internal affairs, mutual respect, understanding and equality of all member states.

China is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of SCO. 

 

The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020 and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours.

The face-off effectively ended following completion of the disengagement process from the last two friction points of Demchok and Depsang under an agreement finalised on October 21.

In December, NSA Ajit Doval visited Beijing and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi under the framework of Special Representatives (SR) dialogue on the boundary dispute.

The decision to revive the SR mechanism and other such dialogue formats was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan on October 23.

The Modi-Xi meeting came two days after India and China firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok.