Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday held delegation-level talks with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Vientiane. This talk has taken place at a time when just a few weeks ago the armies of India and China had withdrawn troops from two conflict areas in eastern Ladakh.
The meeting took place in the Lao capital on the sidelines of a summit of the 10-nation ASEAN grouping and some of its dialogue partners. “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is holding a bilateral meeting with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun in Vientiane, Lao PDR,” Singh’s office said on social media platform ‘X’.
Indian and Chinese armies had completed the disengagement process in Demchok and Depsang late last month. Earlier, after several talks, an agreement was reached between the two sides to resolve the border dispute.
Both sides also started patrolling in both the areas after a gap of about four and a half years. Singh’s three-day visit to Vientiane began on Wednesday with the main objective of attending the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus).
ADMM-Plus is a forum comprising the 10-nation ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) and its eight dialogue partners – India, China, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Russia, and the United States. Laos is hosting the meeting as the current Chair of ADMM-Plus.
