Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu is scheduled to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting planned to be held in the ensuing week, defence officials said.
The Pakistani side is yet to confirm their participation in the meeting, they said. The SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting is scheduled to be held on 27 and 28 April.
Following the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes, this is the first time that a Chinese Defence Minister will visit India.
Li Shangfu, a US-sanctioned general, was named as China’s new Defence Minister a month ago. Li has been under US sanctions since 2018 and his appointment comes at a time of increasingly strained relations between Beijing and Washington, reported CNN.
Li Shangfu, an aerospace expert, was voted unanimously by the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, the National People’s Congress to replace outgoing defence chief Wei Fenghe.
After the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting, a meeting of the Foreign Minister is scheduled to be held on May 5 in Goa. Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is all set to take part in the same.
The SCO member countries are India, Russia, China, Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
