TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ In the midst of heightened tensions in eastern Ladakh, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Friday evening in Moscow on the sidelines of a ministerial meet of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), government sources said.
It will be the first high-level meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May though External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the row. Singh and Wei are in Moscow to attend a meeting of the SCO defence ministers on Friday. The sources said the meeting has been requested by the Chinese defence minister.
“The meeting is likely to take place,” said a source. Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter standoff in multiple places in eastern Ladakh. Tensions flared up in the region after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong lake five days back when the two sides were engaged in diplomatic and military talks to resolve the festering border row.
