Recently External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had met up with their Chinese counterparts in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting.
Differences should not lead to disputes in relations between India and China, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said today as she met her Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in the backdrop of the strain in ties between the two countries after the Dokalam standoff.
Ms. Sitharaman, who arrived in Beijing on the 23rd of April, attended the SCO defense ministers’ meeting on the 24th.
During her meeting with General Wei Fenghe, Ms. Sitharaman said that differences should not lead to disputes in relations between India and China, officials said.
In August last year, India and China ended their 73-day standoff between their troops in Doklam. The standoff had strained ties considerably between the two countries.
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Sitharaman’s remarks came as she met Wei during which both sides reviewed defense ties between the two countries.
This is Sitharaman’s maiden visit to China post-Doklam.
During the meeting, she congratulated Wei for his appointment as the defense minister last month.
“You have been assigned a major responsibility,” she said.
“This is my first visit to China after becoming defense minister. We view India-China relations as an important relationship in our foreign policy,” she told Wei, regarded a close confidant of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During the summit, she said the SCO must adopt an uncompromising approach towards the persisting threat of terrorism in Afghanistan, as it is essential to advance peace and prosperity in the region.
She also said that India will participate in the SCO’s Peace Mission joint military exercises being held in Russia later this year.
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The annual summit of the SCO, in which India is the latest entrant along with Pakistan, will take place in the Chinese city of Qingdao in June.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend it.
The SCO, headquartered in Beijing, was founded in 2001.
Comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, and Pakistan, the SCO aims at military cooperation between the member states and involves intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia and joint work against cyber terrorism.
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