China-India border: defence ministers to converge on Russia amid stand-off tensions in disputed territory

Ministers due to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting as India and China spar over disputed border hotspot

Analyst says participation in Moscow meeting is a positive sign amid flared tensions

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Indian Foreign Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to meet his counterpart from China at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Russia. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 2:26pm, 2 Sep 2020Updated: 11:27pm, 2 Sep 2020

Defence ministers from China and India are expected to arrive in Russia on Wednesday as the two countries face each other in a fresh stand-off over their disputed border lands.

China’s Wei Fenghe and his Indian counterpart, Rajnath Singh, will attend an annual meeting of defence ministers under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Singh and Wei will attend the meetings hosted by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, although there are apparently no plans for talks between India and China on the sidelines, India’s Economic Times reported on Wednesday, citing Indian government sources.

Singh posted on Twitter on Wednesday morning that he was headed to Moscow for a meeting of SCO defence ministers. Singh said he would meet Shoigu “to discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual interest” but did not mention China or the border tensions.

Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe. Photo: AP

The meetings come as India and China have engaged in new rounds of diplomatic and military sparring over the disputed Himalayan border hotspot of Pangong Tso since the weekend, with tensions at their highest since deadly clashes at the Galwan Valley border killed 20 Indian soldiers in mid-June.

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