Nirmala Sitharaman will visit China in April

NEW DELHI: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here today said that she will visit China in late April, which will be a major boost in ties between India and China.

Sitharaman on the sidelines of the first International Conference on Military Ammunition held here, when asked when she will visit China said, “Yes its going to be probably in late April.”

Earlier, ET had broken the story that the defence minister will visit China.


She also said that she doesn’t have the agenda for the visit as yet.

This will be an important visit following the strain in ties between the two countries during the over two month long military standoff between the two in Doklam last year.

Although the standoff ended in August, China has used its rhetoric to claim that Doklam is its territory and not of Bhutan and that it has the right to patrol it. India, on the other hand, has been monitoring Chinese military activities in North Doklam and has been beefing its defences not just in the region but along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The army has also said that the Chinese troops could return in greater numbers in Doklam or anywhere else along the LAC.