Differences should not lead to disputes in India-China ties, says Sitharaman

The defence minister, who arrived in Beijing on Monday, attended the SCO defence ministers’ meeting on Tuesday.

 Differences should not lead to disputes in relations between India and China, defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday as she met her Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in the backdrop of the strain in ties between the two countries after the Dokalam standoff.

Sitharaman, who arrived in Beijing on Monday, attended the SCO defence ministers’ meeting on Tuesday.

During her meeting with Fenghe, Sitharaman said that differences should not lead to disputes in relations between India and China, officials said.

In August last year, India and China ended their 73-day standoff between their troops in Dokalam. The standoff had strained ties considerably between the two countries.

The annual summit of the SCO, in which India is the latest entrant along with Pakistan, will take place in the Chinese city of Qingdao in June.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend it.

The SCO, headquartered in Beijing, was founded in 2001. Comprising China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India and Pakistan, the SCO aims at military cooperation between the member states and involves intelligence sharing, counter-terrorism operations in Central Asia and joint work against cyber terrorism.