Chinese Defense Minister Affirms Common Interests With India Despite Rajnath’s Avoidance Of Handshake

Defense Minister General Li Shangfu vouched on Thursday for a “comprehensive, long-term, and strategic perspective” with India, even though he did not shake hands with China.

During a bilateral meeting with India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, which took place on the side of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defense Ministers, he said, “As major neighbors and important developing countries, China and India have many more things in common than they do differences.

China Military Online said, “The two sides should look at their relations and each other’s development from a broad, long-term, and strategic point of view, and they should work together to bring peace and stability to the world and the region through their wisdom and strength.”

Notably, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not shake hands with Li before their bilateral meeting. However, he did shake hands with his Tajik, Iranian, and Kazakh peers before their meetings.

Li said that the situation on the border between China and India is usually stable right now and that the two countries have kept in touch through military and diplomatic channels, according to China Military Online.

“The two sides should look at the situation from a long-term point of view, put the border problem in the right place in their relations with each other, and work to get things back to normal at the border. Li said, “It is hoped that the two sides will work together to keep building trust between the two militaries and make good contributions to the growth of bilateral relations.”

Singh had made it clear that for ties between India and China to grow, there must be peace and quiet at the borders.

He also said that all problems at the LAC must be solved in line with bilateral agreements and promises that are already in place.

Singh said again that breaking agreements has destroyed the whole basis of bilateral ties, and that if people stop fighting at the border, tensions will naturally go down.

India, which will be Chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2023, will host the SCO Defense Ministers’ Meeting on April 28, 2023, in New Delhi.

SCO is a group of governments that came together in 2001. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India.

In addition to the member states, Belarus and Iran will also be at the SCO Defense Ministers Meeting as observers.