India-China Meeting: The issue of border tension dominated the meeting of the Defense Ministers of India, and China held in New Delhi. In this meeting of the two countries defence ministers, which took place for the first time on Indian soil after the Galvan Valley incident, India bluntly said that if it wanted better relations, China should end the military barricade and mobilization from the border.
The meeting between India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu lasted about 1 hour. During this, the emphasis of the entire conversation from the Indian side was only on the border issue.
According to sources, in the meeting, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh clearly said that the relations between India and China are directly related to the border tension. Unless the situation on the border improves, it is futile to expect normal business in relations.
Not only this, but the Defense Minister also made it clear to his Chinese counterpart that for normal relations, China should end the face-to-face situation on the LAC as soon as possible and also end the military gathering.
Sources said the Defense Minister told General Shangfu that the military build-up on the border was not good for the relationship. It was also clarified that frequent incidents also reduce the possibility of normalization of relations.
Not Even A Handshake
The tension in the meeting can be gauged from the fact that there was no formality of a handshake between Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and the Defense Minister of China. Confirming this, the sources only said that Defense Minister Rajnath Singh greeted him with Namaskar.
However, it is said that before the Defense Minister met the Defense Ministers of Kazakhstan, Iran and Tajikistan before the Chinese Defense Minister, there was also a warm handshake.
Strict Message
In the meeting, a strict message was also given to the Chinese Defense Minister, who was trying to normalize the relations. According to sources, the proposal of increased military cooperation from the Defense Minister of China was rejected by the Indian side on the table, saying that, at present, it is difficult to talk about any other subject without reducing the tension on the border.
China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu is in New Delhi for the meeting of Defense Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries to be hosted by India. This meeting will start in Delhi on Friday morning.
