Li Shangfu, the Chinese defence minister arrived in New Delhi today to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting scheduled to be held on Friday in the national capital.

Li Shangfu will attend the bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh.

The Chinese defence minister is making his first visit since the border transgression in Galwan.

Recently, India and China held the 18th round of the India-China Corps Commander level meeting at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side.

During the 18th round of Corps Commander-level meetings, India, and China agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector of the LAC.

After a gap of five months, the meeting took place. In December last year, the last meeting between India, and China was held at the Corps Commander level.

Meanwhile, the Indian defence minister is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu. The Russian defence minister last visited India in December 2021 for the first India-Russia 2 2 Ministerial Dialogue.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a 2001 intergovernmental organization. Along with India, SCO members include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Ministry of Defence statement said, “The SCO Defence Ministers will also include, two observer countries Belarus and Iran”.

According to the announcement, the defence ministers will discuss regional peace and security, SCO counter-terrorism operation, and effective multilateralism.

‘Secure-SCO’ is the topic of India’s chairmanship of SCO in 2023.

India places a high value on the SCO’s role in developing multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.

The continued participation with SCO has aided India in promoting its relations with the countries in the region with which it shares civilizational ties and is considered India’s extended neighbourhood.

SCO’s policy is based on the values of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, non-interference in domestic affairs, equality of all member States and mutual understanding and respect for the opinions of each of them.

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