According to a report by the Global Times, Li Shangfu, China’s Defence Minister will make his maiden visit to India to attend SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) meeting of Defence Ministers to be held from 27th to 28th April in the National Capital, on April 25th, 2023, Tuesday. It has been said that following the Galwan Valley clashes that took place in the year 2020, this will be the first time that the Chinese Defence Minister will visit India to be a part of the SCO Defence Ministers  Meeting. 

According to Global Times, the Defence Ministry of China said that from 27th to 28th April (Thursday to Friday), the Defence Minister of China will take part in the SCO meetings, and will address the gatherings as well as meet the head of the delegations from other countries. “Defence Minister and Chinese State Councillor Li Shangfu will attend the defence ministers’ meeting among the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) from 27th to 28th April in India,” said in a Tweet by the Global Times.  

A report by CNN mentioned that the US-sanctioned general, Li Shangfu was named as China’s new Defence Minister a month ago. Li Sangfu has been under US Sanctioned since 2018, and his appointment to the position of Defence Minister comes at a time of highly strained relations between Washington and Beijling. The National People’s Congress replaced outgoing defence chief, Wei Fenghe, as he was voted in by the country’s rubber-stamp parliament. Russia, China, India, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and India are among the SCO member countries. 

An encounter was also witnessed in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, when the Chinese troops tried to aggressively change the status quo on LAC in the eastern area of Ladakh. Since the past few years, it has been observed that India and China have issues as well as a long history of border transgressions while the most recent one was witnessed in the year 2022 in Arunachal Pradesh. It has been observed that almost 20 soldiers of India died in the Galwan Valley clash which was fought in hand-to-hand combat in zero temperatures around 15 June and 16 June 2020. That particular clash is known as one of the deadliest confrontations between India and China over 4 decades.