Possible meeting between Rajnath, Chinese counterpart at ASEAN Defence Ministers meet in Laos next week

This development comes after resumption of patrolling in both areas of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) recently

There could be a possible meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun who are both scheduled to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers meeting in Laos next week. Their presence on the same platform comes just after the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok and the resumption of patrolling in both areas of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Mr. Singh will visit Laos from November 20 to 22 for the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus (ADMM Plus), officials confirmed.

Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held their first formal bilateral meeting in five years on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, during which they welcomed the agreement for a resolution of the military standoff at the LAC announced just the previous week. Mr. Modi told Mr. Xi in his opening remarks that maintaining peace and stability on the border should be a “priority” for both sides.

Brazil is set to host the G20 Leaders’ Summit scheduled to be held on November 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro, which will be attended by Mr. Modi. On the sidelines of the G20 summit, the Prime Minister is expected to meet several leaders, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had stated.

China has confirmed that Mr. Xi would be attending the G20 summit. The Chinese President did not attend last year’s G20 summit in New Delhi. Outgoing U.S. President Joseph Biden is expected to attend the upcoming summit as well. With progress in the disengagement and easing of the standoff, there is a possibility of another meeting between Mr. Modi and Mr. Xi in Brazil.

The ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN grouping and its eight dialogue partners — Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the U.S.

The last meeting between the two leaders was in April 2023 when then Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu travelled to Delhi for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s defence ministers’ meeting. Prior to that, Mr. Singh met then Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe in 2020 on the sidelines of the SCO meeting in 2020, just months after the violent clash in Galwan in June that resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

Since the announcement of the agreement for disengagement from Depsang and Demchok and the resumption of patrolling and access to traditional grazing areas, both sides have completed the process dismantling all temporary structures.

The Indian Army has since resumed patrolling in both areas, reaching Patrolling Point 10 (PP10) in Depsang, one of the five points in the area. With this, the disengagement has been completed at all friction points of the 2020 standoff in eastern Ladakh and both sides have to work out new patrolling norms to remove the buffer zones in other locations, other than Depsang and Demchok, and restore the pre-April 2020 status.

Officials said that discussions are ongoing between the two sides at various levels.

Published - November 15, 2024 01:35 am IST