"Avoid Galwan-Type Incidents": Rajnath Says At Meet With Chinese Counterpart

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today met his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun for bilateral talks in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The two leaders met for the first time since the military disengagement in Ladakh. At the meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reportedly told Mr Dong that "Galwan-type incidents must be avoided".

Rajnath Singh highlighted the fact that amicable relations between India and China, the two largest nations in the world, would have positive implications for global peace and prosperity. Considering that both countries are and will continue to remain neighbours, he mentioned that "we need to focus on cooperation rather than conflict."

The two leaders reviewed the situation at the Line of Actual Control and the disengagement in areas where the two sides were in a standoff for more than four years.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of a conclave of the 10-nation ASEAN grouping.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also called for reflecting on the lessons learnt from the unfortunate border clashes of 2020, taking measures to prevent the recurrence of such events and safeguarding peace and tranquillity along the India-China border. He emphasised and looked forward to greater trust and confidence building between the two sides through de-escalation. Both sides agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding.

Indian and Chinese militaries had completed the disengagement exercise in last two friction points at Demchok and Depsang late last month. Regular patrolling by troops of both sides also resumed in the two areas after a gap of almost four-and-a-half years.

The military standoff in the upper Himalayan region of Ladakh were mainly in five regions along the Line of Actual Control or LAC - Galwan, Pangong, Gogra Hot Springs, Depsang, and Demchok.

Ties between India and China had taken a severe hit and had come to an abrupt halt after the military clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020. It took four years of diplomatic and military-level talks between both sides to finally come to an agreement to reinstate the status quo to what it was before the stand-off in 2020. The agreement to disengage finally happened on October 21 this year and both militaries completed the process to move back to pre-2020 status by October 31.

Rajnath Singh began his three-day visit to Laos on Wednesday, primarily to attend a meeting of the ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus, which is a platform comprising the 10-nation ASEAN and its eight dialogue partners - India, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the United States.

Laos is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current Chair of the forum.