Push for de-escalation: Rajnath in China meet

NEW DELHI: Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday held talks with his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun at Vientiane in Laos and emphasised the need for the two countries to work towards de-escalation of the conflict in the sensitive Ladakh theatre on the back of the recent disengagement of Indian and Chinese armies from Depsang and Demchok, adding that it would help build greater trust and confidence between the two sides.

- Rahul Singh

In the meeting held on the sidelines of the 11th Asean Defence Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus, Singh also called for reflecting on the lessons learnt from the unfortunate border clashes of 2020, taking measures to prevent a repeat and safeguarding peace and tranquillity along the India China border.

"Had an extremely productive meeting with the Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Vientiane. We agreed to work together towards a road map for rebuilding mutual trust and understanding," Singh wrote on X after the meeting.

Singh told the Chinese minister that border issues could not be decoupled from the overall bilateral relationship, HT has learnt.

Singh, who is on a three-day visit to Laos, will attend the ADMM-Plus on Thursday and address the forum on regional and international security issues. The bloc consists of Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries, and its eight dialogue partners including India, China, Japan,

Russia and the United States (or the "plus" countries.) This was the first meeting of the two defence ministers following the recent disengagement in eastern Ladakh, and the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics Summit in Russia.

The disengagement was completed along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC), and patrols by both armies resumed, around 10 days after India and China on October 21 announced a breakthrough in negotiations to resolve their standoff in Depsang and Demchok, the last two flashpoints in Ladakh where the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) were eyeball-to-eyeball since May 2020.