Chinese foreign minister to attend SCO meeting in Goa

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang is set to visit India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Foreign Ministers' meeting in Goa.

At the summit, Qin Gang is expected to exchange views with other SCO member states' foreign ministers on the international and regional situation.

"From May 2 to 5, Chinese state councillor and foreign minister Qin Gang will visit Myanmar and attend the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of SCO in India," the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The upcoming SCO Foreign Ministers' Meeting will be held on May 4 and 5 in Panaji, the capital of Goa, India. At the meeting, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang will exchange views with other SCO member states' foreign ministers on the international and regional situation and SCO cooperation in various fields, among other topics, to make full preparation for this year's SCO summit," it added.

During his visit to India, Qin Gang had expressed that India and China should put border disputes in the "proper place" and work together to bring the situation at their borders "under normalised management" at the earliest.

"The two sides should implement the important consensus between the leaders of the two countries, maintain dialogue, settle differences, and promote the improvement of bilateral relations as soon as possible and move forward steadily," Qin stated, as per a Chinese foreign ministry statement.

Qin told Jaishankar that both sides should implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, maintain dialogue and properly resolve disputes, and promote the improvement of bilateral ties and the steady moving forward of the relations, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted an official press release from the Chinese foreign ministry as saying.

In a first since the Galwan clash, Chinese defence minister Li Shangfu attended the defence ministers' meeting last month. But, the chill in the relations was evident as defence minister Rajnath Singh did not shake hands with General Li.

India and China have engaged in a prolonged standoff in Eastern Ladakh since May 2020.

The two sides carried out disengagement from Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hotsprings area. However, the stalemate continues in Depsang and Demchok.