SCO summit: Rajnath meets Chinese counterpart, India stays out of joint statement

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Don Jun, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ gathering in Qingdao, China.

Providing insights into the discussion, Singh shared on his X account that it is vital for both countries to sustain the positive progress in ties and steer clear of introducing new complications.

He described the conversation with General Don Jun as a “constructive and forward-looking exchange of views” focused on matters concerning the bilateral relationship. Singh also expressed his pleasure over the revival of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

“Held talks with Admiral Don Jun, the Defence Minister of China, on the sidelines of SCO Defence Minitsers’ Meeting in Qingdao. We had a constructive and forward looking exchange of views on issues pertaining to bilateral relations.

Expressed my happiness on restarting of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra after a gap of nearly six years. It is incumbent on both the sides to maintain this positive momentum and avoid adding new complexities in the bilateral relationship,” Singh posted on X.

According to a statement from the Chinese side, India is not aiming for confrontation with China but is instead interested in deepening communication and building mutual trust.

However, India did not back the joint declaration issued at the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting on Thursday, citing the absence of references to terrorism as a key point of contention.

India explained that it had insisted on including concerns related to terrorism in the final document, a demand that one country opposed, leading to the declaration being dropped.

"I understand that they (Defence Ministers) could not adopt a joint statement. I also understand that certain member countries could not reach consensus on certain issues, and hence the document could not be finalised. On our side, India wanted concerns on terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country and therefore the statement was not adopted," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated at a weekly press briefing.

In his address at the SCO forum, Defence Minister Singh condemned the April 22 terrorist strike in Pahalgam, where 26 civilians, including one Nepali citizen, were killed. He noted that India responded through Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructure across the border, and called on SCO member nations to adopt a unified stance against terrorism and hold its sponsors accountable.
(With PTI Inputs)