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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Singapore and China from July 13 to 15.
In Singapore, Jaishankar will meet his counterpart and the leadership of Singapore as part of the regular exchanges between the two countries. Thereafter, the External Affairs Minister will embark on a visit to China to participate in the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' Meeting (CFM) being held in Tianjin.He will also hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the meeting, a Ministry of External Affairs release said. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had visited China last month to attend the 20th Meeting of the SCO Security Council Secretaries. During his visit, NSA Ajit Doval had called on Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng along with other Heads of Delegation attending the meeting. Doval also held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and underlined the urgency of addressing terrorism in all its forms. He emphasized the need to counter terrorism in all its forms and manifestations to maintain overall peace and stability in the region. India had launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, conducting precision strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack. During the meeting, Doval and Wang Yi reviewed recent developments in India-China relations and stressed the need to promote overall bilateral ties, including greater people-to-people contact. They also exchanged views were also exchanged on other bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest. The NSA conveyed that he looked forward to welcoming Wang Yi in India for the 24th round of the Special Representative (SR) Talks at a mutually convenient date. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh attended the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting in Qingdao in June and met his counterparts from Belarus, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. Singh underscored India's rapid strides in defence manufacturing and self-reliance. He highlighted the rapid advances made by India in the field of defence production and achieving self-reliance in meeting its defence requirements in several key areas. Rajnath Singh also briefed his counterparts on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor launched by India aimed at dismantling the terrorist networks in Pakistan. India, however, declined to sign the joint declaration at the SCO meeting, citing dissatisfaction over the final text. According to government sources, the declaration had references to incidents in Pakistan but omitted any mention of the April 22 Pahalgam attack. "India is not satisfied with the language of the joint document, as there was no mention of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam... so India refused to sign the joint declaration, and there is no joint communique either," a source said. India and China had earlier this year agreed to resume Kailash Mansarovar Yatra as part of efforts to improve ties following the disengagement of troops at the two remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh last year. Kailash Mansarovar Yatra did not take place in the last nearly six years due to COVID-19 and later due to tensions over the military standoff in eastern Ladakh. India's relations with Singapore were elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Singapore in September 2024. With shared history, long tradition of friendship based on trust and mutual respect, and extensive cooperation across a wide range of areas, India-Singapore cooperation has deepened and diversified over the years. (ANI)
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