‘Need to focus on cooperation than conflict’, says Rajnath Singh after meeting Chinese counterpart

New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday held a bilateral meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun in Laos's capital city of Vientiane, saying that both countries must focus on cooperation rather than conflict.

“We need to focus on cooperation rather than conflict. Both countries are and will continue to remain neighbours and amicable relations between India and China, the two largest nations in the world, would have positive implications for global peace and prosperity,” the Defence Minister said while emphasising greater trust and confidence building between the two sides through de-escalation.

The bilateral meeting between the two leaders was held on the sidelines of the 11th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus)

The Ministry of Defence said this was the first meeting of the two Defence Ministers following the recent disengagement agreements and the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

The Defence Minister also called for reflecting on the lessons learnt from the “unfortunate” border clashes of 2020 and taking measures to prevent the recurrence of such events and safeguard peace and tranquillity along the India-China border.

He emphasised and looked forward to greater trust and confidence building between the two sides through de-escalation. Both sides agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding.

Rajnath Singh arrived at Vientiane on a three-day visit where he will attend the 11th ADMM-Plus on November 21 and address the forum on regional and international security issues.

The Defence Minister is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with participating counterparts from Australia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea and the US. These meetings are aimed at further enhancing bilateral defence cooperation with these countries.

ADMM is the highest defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its eight Dialogue Partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) to strengthen security and defence cooperation.