Rajnath Singh holds bilateral talks with defence minister of China, says ‘Need to focus on cooperation rather than conflict’

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday engaged held bilateral talks with his counterparts from China, Laos, and Malaysia to augment defence cooperation and address regional security concerns, on the sidelines of eleventh ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus in Vientiane.

One day of his consult with, Singh met with Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun, Lao Defence Minister General Chansamone Chanyalath, and Malaysian Defence Minister Dato Seri Mohamed Khaled Bin Nordin to point out problems with shared interest and explore how one can bolster bilateral defence ties.

Notably, Rajnath Singh met the Chinese Defence Minister for the first time following the recent disengagement agreements, and the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
Singh highlighted the fact that amicable members of the family between India and China, the two largest nations contained within the world, would have positive implications for global peace and prosperity. Taking into account that both countries are and will continue to stay neighbours, he mentioned that “we should take care of cooperation instead of conflict.”

He often generally which is which is termed for reflecting on the teachings learnt from the unfortunate border clashes of 2020, taking measures to forestall the recurrence of such events and safeguarding peace and tranquillity along the India-China border. He emphasised and looked forward to greater have faith and self belief building between the two sides through de-escalation. Either side agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual have faith and understanding.
The Defence Ministry shared a post on X and wrote, “Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh today held a bilateral meeting with Chinese Defence Minister Mr Dong Jun in Vientiane, Lao PDR and discussed problems with shared interest.”

Within the opposite post, it said, “Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh today held a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister of Lao PDR General Chansamone Chanyalath in Vientiane. They discussed how one can as well as bolster bilateral defence cooperation, together with issues referring to regional security.”

“After arriving in Lao PDR, Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh met his Malaysian counterpart Dato Seri Mohamed Khaled Bin Nordin in Vientiane. They in short discussed defence cooperation & #regionalsecurity, to foster a tons better bilateral partnership,” the Defence Ministry said within the opposite post.

Singh described the meeting with his Chinese counterpart as “extremely productive” and said that they agreed to collaborate on a roadmap aimed toward rebuilding mutual have faith and understanding.

On X, Singh wrote, “Had an exceptionally productive meeting with the Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun in Vientiane. We agreed to work together towards a roadmap for rebuilding mutual have faith and understanding.”

Rajnath Singh reaffirmed India’s commitment to strengthening bilateral defence cooperation with Malaysia. In a post on X, Singh wrote, “It became a pleasure to engage with Malaysia’s Defence Minister Dato Seri Mohamed Khaled Bin Nordin in Vientiane, Lao PDR. India is strongly committed to augment and expand our bilateral defence cooperation.”

On his meeting with his Lo PDR counterpart, Singh said, “Delighted to fulfill the Defence Minister of Lao PDR General Chansamone Chanyalath in Vientiane. India and Lao PDR have huge potential for Defence Industry Cooperation. I invited him to Aero India 2025 to be held in Bengaluru from 10-12 Feb 2025.”

Sooner than his departure from Delhi, the Defence Minister said, “I’m leaving for Vientiane to attend the eleventh ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) in Lao PDR. Quite a ramification regional and international security Issues shall be discussed at some point of the meeting. There would even be separate bilateral meetings with my counterparts from other taking part nations. for it.”

Singh shall be in Vientiane to attend the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) from November 20 to 22, 2024. The summit gathers Defence ministers from ASEAN countries and eight key partners including India, China and america to keep up pressing security challenges like maritime safety and disaster management.

ADMM is some of essentially the most effective possible Defence consultative and cooperative mechanism in ASEAN. ADMM-Plus is a platform for ASEAN member states (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam) and its eight Dialogue Partners (India, US, China, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand) to augment security and defence cooperation.

India changed into the dialogue partner of ASEAN in 1992 and the inaugural ADMM-Plus became convened in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 12, 2010. Since 2017, ADMM-Plus Ministers have been meeting every year to bolster the cooperation between ASEAN and the Plus countries. Lao PDR is the chair and host of the eleventh ADMM-Plus.