Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Defence Ministers Plus (ADMM-Plus) meeting. This will mark the first defence meeting between the two nations after the Line of Actual Control (LAC) disengagement.
The ADMM-Plus is an annual meeting that will see participation from defence ministers of eight nations, including Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia, and the United States.
The last meeting between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart took place in April 2023 in India. Then Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu travelled to Delhi for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s defence ministers’ meeting. The border issue was the main focus of the meeting.
Before the 2023 meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met with then Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe in Moscow during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in 2020. This meeting occurred months after the deadly clashes in Galwan, Eastern Ladakh, in June of that year, which left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead.
The upcoming talks in Laos are expected to witness discussions related to regional stability and border issues, building on the framework established by the LAC agreement.
As both nations navigate a complex bilateral relationship marked by border tensions and diplomatic negotiations, the meeting between Rajnath Singh and Dong Jun could play a crucial role in maintaining dialogue and promoting mutual understanding.
Earlier last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia on the sidelines of the BRICS summit just after the LAC agreement was signed.
