‘No Handshakes’ With China’s Counterpart, Rajnath Singh Retorts Over Indo-Chinese Border Dispute

China’s defence minister General Li Shangfu, who is in New Delhi to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers conference, held a 45-minute-long meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh on Thursday during which the two ministers discussed the standoff at the eastern Ladakh area since May 2020.

At the meeting, Singh told Gen Li that China’s violation of border agreements “eroded” the entire basis of ties between the two countries and that all issues relating to the frontier must be resolved in accordance with the existing pacts.

The bitterness in India-China relations was also obvious when Rajnath Singh did not shake hands with China’s Defence minister, as he did with others from Iran (Brigadier General Mohammed Reza Gharaei Ashtiani), Kazakhstan (Colonel General Ruslan Zhaksylykov) and Tajikistan (Colonel General Sherali Mirzo) in bilateral meetings with them ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation SCO meet on Friday.

A Chinese Defence Ministry statement issued here on Friday said that during the meeting the two sides exchanged views on militaries and bilateral relations.

Gen. Li pointed out that “currently, the situation on the China-India border is generally stable and the two sides have maintained communication through military and diplomatic channels”.

“The two sides should take a long-term view, place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and promote the transition of the border situation to normalised management,” he said.

“It is hoped that the two sides will work together to continuously enhance mutual trust between the two militaries and make proper contributions to the development of bilateral relations,” Li told Singh.

He said that as major neighbouring countries and important developing countries, China and India share far more common interests than differences.

“The two sides should view bilateral relations and each other’s development from a comprehensive, long-term and strategic perspective, and jointly contribute wisdom and strength to world and regional peace and stability”, he said.

The Indian government sources in New Delhi said Singh conveyed to Li that after disengagement in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh, there should be a movement towards de-escalation and expressed hope for a “positive response”.

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In a statement,

India’s defence ministry said the two ministers had “frank discussions” about the developments in the India-China border areas as well as bilateral relations.

“The Raksha Mantri categorically conveyed that development of relations between India and China is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders,” it said.

“He added that all issues at the LAC need to be resolved in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and commitments,” the ministry said in New Delhi.

Singh “reiterated that violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation,” it said.

The talks took place hours after Li arrived in Delhi to attend the meeting of defence ministers of the SCO on Friday.

Singh also conveyed to Li that India wants to improve relations with China but it can happen only after peace and tranquillity are restored at the border, the sources said.

Defence Minister Singh categorically stated in the meeting that military cooperation between the two countries can progress only if peace and tranquillity are established at the border, they said.

In a tweet, Singh said:

“Held discussions with China’s Defence Minister, General Li Shangfu in New Delhi.”

India has been slamming China’s deployment of a massive number of troops and its aggressive behaviour along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in violation of pacts on border management.

The meeting between the two defence ministers took place days after the Indian and Chinese armies held the 18th round of military talks on ending the border row.

In the Corps Commander talks on April 23, the two sides agreed to stay in close touch and work out a mutually acceptable solution to the remaining issues in eastern Ladakh at the earliest.

However, there was no indication of any clear forward movement in ending the three-year row.