"China and India share far more common interests...," Chinese Defence Minister even after Rajnath avoids handshake

After no handshake with China, Defence Minister General Li Shangfu on Thursday vouched for a "comprehensive, long-term and strategic perspective," with India.

Speaking at the bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defence Ministers meeting, he said, "As major neighbouring countries and important developing countries, China and India share far more common interests than differences. The two sides should view bilateral relations and each other's development from a comprehensive, long-term and strategic perspective, and jointly contribute wisdom and strength to the world and regional peace and stability," reported China Military Online.

Notably, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not exchange handshake with Li ahead of the bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li, while, he had handshakes with Tajik, Iranian and Kazakh counterparts ahead of the bilateral.


Li pointed out that currently, the situation on the China-India border is generally stable and the two sides have maintained communication through military and diplomatic channels, reported China Military Online.

"The two sides should take a long-term view, place the border issue in an appropriate position in bilateral relations, and promote the transition of the border situation to normalized management. It is hoped that the two sides will work together to continuously enhance mutual trust between the two militaries and make proper contributions to the development of bilateral relations," said Li.

Singh had categorically conveyed that the development of relations between India and China is premised on the prevalence of peace and tranquillity at the borders.

He added that all issues at the LAC need to be resolved in accordance with existing bilateral agreements and commitments.

Singh reiterated that violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation.

India as the Chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in 2023 will host the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting on 28 April 2023 in New Delhi.

SCO is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001. The SCO membership includes Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India.

Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting.