Rajnath likely to visit China next week for SCO meet

Sat, 21 June 2025

00:26

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to travel to China next week to attend a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

It will be the first visit to China by a senior Indian minister after the ties came under severe strain following the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh that began in May 2020.

New Delhi and Beijing are in the process of finalising Singh's visit to China, the people said.

The SCO defence ministers' conclave is scheduled to be held in Qingdao from June 25 to 27.

It is learnt that Singh may hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the SCO conclave.

China is hosting the meeting in its capacity as the current chair of the SCO.

The military standoff in eastern Ladakh began in May 2020, and a deadly clash at the Galwan Valley in June that year resulted in a severe strain in ties between the two neighbours. -- PTI

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