China defence minister in India amid border tensions

NEW DELHI: Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has arrived in India to attend a key security summit meeting amid strained ties between the countries.

Li will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers’ meeting on Friday in the Indian capital Delhi. This is the first visit to India by a Chinese defence minister since a deadly clash between their troops in 2020.

At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed. The sides have had other confrontations since then, with the most recent flare-up happening in December at Tawang in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The root cause of the tensions is an ill-defined 3,440-km-long disputed border in the high-altitude Himalayan region. Rivers, lakes and snowcaps along the frontier mean the line can shift, bringing soldiers face to face at many points.

China’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that Li will address the conference in Delhi and “meet with the heads of delegations from relevant countries to communicate and exchange views on the issues of international and regional situation as well as defence and security cooperation”.

Li and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will also hold a bilateral meeting in Delhi. The minister’s visit comes days after India and China concluded the 18th round of military talks to try to resolve the border dispute.

India became the chair of the SCO in 2023. The organisation was formed by China, Russia and four Central Asian countries in 2001 as a countermeasure to limit the influence of Western alliances such as Nato. India and Pakistan joined the group in 2017.