Latest news with #DongJun
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First Post
9 hours ago
- Business
- First Post
Rajnath Singh to visit China for SCO meet, first post-Op Sindoor face-off with Pak minister likely
This will be Rajnath Singh's first overseas trip since India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in May read more Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to China next week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meet in Qingdao from June 25 to 27. This will be his first overseas trip since India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in May. Interestingly, his Pakistani counterpart Khwaja Asif is also supposed to be present at the summit. India-China working to normalise ties The visit comes as both India and China trudge towards normalisation in their relationship after a protracted period of tensions following deadly clashes in the Himalayas in 2020. Over the past few months, bilateral relations have improved, marked by resumption of trade, travel and dialogue. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in April told Network 18 that ties between the two Asian giants were 'much better'. 'The relationship is much better than before. I think the disengagement, particularly the Depsang Demchok, was important,' the EAM said. 'We are now addressing, to some extent, the issues on the border because there has been a force build-up over a period of years. Many other things also happened during this period. Some of it was collateral to the situation, and some of it was a carryover from the Covid era,' he said. This visit by the defence minister also coincides with the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which has been facilitated by the Chinese authorities. Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the SCO summit. India and China are engaged in discussions aimed at further easing border tensions and strengthening bilateral relations. Singh's upcoming meeting follows his earlier interaction with Admiral Dong Jun at the ADMM-Plus summit in Laos, marking their first engagement since the recent border disengagement agreement. This potential visit is part of broader diplomatic efforts to normalise India-China relations, with possible talks on restoring air connectivity, sharing hydrological data, and promoting visa facilitation and people-to-people exchanges. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD During recent discussions in Delhi between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong, India had reaffirmed its support for China's presidency of the SCO. Challenges Despite the recent thaw, challenges still persist in Indo-Sino co-operation. One of the major issues is China's open economic and military support to Pakistan. It was not clear whether Singh would bring up the issue during his upcoming interaction with the Chinese authorities.
News18
12 hours ago
- Politics
- News18
Rajnath Singh To Attend SCO Defence Ministers' Meet In China From June 25 To 27
Last Updated: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit China for the SCO Defence Ministers' meet in Qingdao from June 25-27, meeting his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meet in Qingdao from June 25 to 27 in his first such visit since Operation Sindoor. Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif will also attend the meeting. The visit coincides with India and China working to normalise relations, marked by the resumption of trade, travel, and dialogue. Singh will have bilaterals with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the SCO meet. The meeting is happening at a time when the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra has resumed. Patrolling is happening in Depsang and Demchok. India and China are holding talks to reduce border tensions and enhance bilateral ties. Singh's visit follows his meeting with China's Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun at the ADMM-Plus summit in Laos, their first interaction after the border disengagement agreement. The potential visit is part of ongoing diplomatic efforts to normalise India-China ties, which may include discussions on reviving the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, restoring air links, exchanging hydrological data, and enhancing visa and people-to-people exchanges. India reiterated its support for China's SCO presidency during recent talks in Delhi between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong.
CNA
15 hours ago
- Politics
- CNA
CNA Correspondent - The Shangri-La Dialogue: Speed dating for defence officials
Tensions, absences and quiet chats at Asia's premier security summit. The US sent Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth but China left its defence minister at home for this year's summit. CNA's Olivia Siong and Leong Wai Kit tell Arnold Gay whether Dong Jun's absence affected Beijing's messaging and why the summit is similar to speed dating, with defence officials meeting and mingling to seal alliances and agreements.
South China Morning Post
10-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
China's defence chief Dong Jun backs South Africa against ‘bullying' amid US tensions
Beijing is ready to work with South Africa to oppose global 'hegemony and bullying', Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun said on Tuesday, amid growing tensions between Pretoria and Washington over South Africa's ties to Russia and controversial US asylum policies. The remarks came during a meeting in Beijing with General Rudzani Maphwanya, chief of the South African National Defence Force, according to a statement released by China's Ministry of National Defence. It was Dong's first public appearance since he skipped the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore – Asia's top security summit – in late May. China instead sent a lower-level academic delegation, sparking speculation about Beijing's current stance towards multilateral security platforms amid complex US-China relations. Dong on Tuesday stressed historical links that were rooted in China's support for the African National Congress during apartheid. 'China and South Africa forged a special bond of comradeship and brotherhood through historical struggles,' Dong said. 'We are willing to work together to uphold true multilateralism and jointly oppose hegemony and bullying, power politics, and bloc division and confrontation.' Beijing is promoting its Global Security Initiative as an alternative approach that prioritises dialogue over confrontation, partnerships over alliances and mutually beneficial outcomes over zero-sum competition.
Japan Times
02-06-2025
- Business
- Japan Times
Asia defense summit reveals gaps between U.S. and European perspectives
The Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore has long been marked by U.S.-China rivalry, but Beijing's relative retreat at the weekend exposed a new fault line — tensions between the U.S. and Europe over Asia. Even as he warned in a speech on Saturday that China posed an "imminent" threat, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made clear he wanted Europeans to concentrate on European security as they boosted military budgets. "We would much prefer that the overwhelming balance of European investment be on that continent ... so that as we partner there, which we will continue to do, we're able to use our comparative advantage as an Indo-Pacific nation to support our partners here," he said. Hegseth also noted the absence of his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun, as Beijing instead dispatched a low-level team of military scholars to the annual event, which attracts top defense officials, diplomats, spies and arms dealers from across the world. The other highlight of the event was the presence of high-powered military delegations from India and Pakistan after four days of intense clashes between the nuclear-armed neighbors that were halted by a ceasefire on May 10. The delegations, in full uniform and bristling with medal and service ribbons, were led by India's highest ranking military officer and Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. They pointedly kept out of each other's way in the corridors and meeting halls of the sprawling Shangri-La hotel. On engaging in Asia, at least some European nations signaled that they would not be swayed by the U.S. exhortations. They insisted they would try to stay in both the Asian and European theaters, noting their deep links and vital trade flows as well as the global nature of conflict. "It is a good thing we are doing more (in Europe), but what I want to stress is that the security of Europe and the security of the Pacific is very much interlinked," said Europe's top diplomat Kaja Kallas. "If you are worried about China, you should be worried about Russia," Kallas said, underlining the importance of Chinese assistance to the Russian war effort in Ukraine and Moscow's deployment of North Korean soldiers. Gen. Anil Chauhan (center), Chief of Defense Staff of the Indian Armed Forces, attends the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Saturday. | AFP-JIJI French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that his nation remains an Indo-Pacific power, alluding to its enduring colonial presence in New Caledonia and French Polynesia and the basing of over 8,000 soldiers across the region. "We are neither China nor the U.S., we don't want to depend on either of them," Macron said at a news conference Friday, outlining a "third path" coalition between Europe and Asia that avoided having to choose between Beijing and Washington. "We want to cooperate with both as far as we can, and we can cooperate for growth and prosperity and stability for our people and the world order, and I think this is exactly the same view of a lot of countries and a lot of people of this region," he said. Beyond the rhetoric, regional military attaches and analysts say the European regional presence — and ambitions — may not be easy to shift. Military deployments are mapped out over decades rather than months, and both commercial and defense relationships go back decades, some of them only rarely publicly acknowledged. The visit of a British aircraft carrier to Singapore later this month is part of a program first mentioned by then-U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in 2017 to stress British support for freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. The carrier visit in part reflects the U.K.'s commitments under the 54-year-old Five-Power Defence Arrangement that links its military with counterparts in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. British ties with Australia have been bolstered with the recent three-way AUKUS submarine and advanced technology sharing agreement struck with the U.S. — a move that could see British submarines visiting Western Australia. Singapore meanwhile keeps 200 personnel in France operating 12 of its light combat aircraft while the U.K. also has a jungle training camp and helicopters in Brunei and a 1,200-strong Gurkha battalion, according to International Institute of Strategic Studies data. A report last month by the London-based IISS highlighted European defense firms' long-standing and expanding defense ties to Asia, even in the face of competition, particularly from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as regional budgets rise. "European companies, including Airbus, Damen, Naval Group and Thales, have a long-standing presence in Southeast Asia, and other European actors have established themselves in the market in the last decade, including Italy's Fincantieri and Sweden's Saab," the IISS study said. Saab is close to securing a deal with U.S. ally Thailand to supply its Gripen fighters, beating out Lockheed Martin's F-16s. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has reported that Asian defense spending rose 46% in the decade to 2024, reaching $629 billion. For Finnish officials at least, Hegseth's remarks resonated — it is Moscow rather than the Indo-Pacific that looms large for Helsinki given the country's long Russian border. "When Europe's defense is in a good shape, then you will have resources to do something more," Finnish Defense Minister Antti Hakkanen said. "But now all the European countries must do their main focus on European defense so that the United States can do a bigger share in the Indo-Pacific area," Hakkanen said.
