Terror tops Rajnath Singh’s agenda in China

Against the backdrop of increasing terror attacks in the region and across the world, India will be looking to step up security cooperation with China during Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s six-day visit to Beijing that begins November 18. This is the first trip by an Indian Home Minister to China in a decade.

The visit comes amid efforts by both sides to scale up relations across the spectrum. “I am looking forward to my visit to China. Hope it would help in deepening of mutual understanding and trust. During my China visit I intend to further strengthen the tradition of mutual learning and better understanding from each other,” Mr Singh said.

Besides holding talks with his counterpart, Mr. Singh will also be meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Mr Singh’s visit comes a few days after a rare visit by China’s topmost military official to India. Gen Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission (CMC), visited India, the first visit by China’s highest ranking military official to India.

Mr. Singh’s visit will be an opportunity to consolidate efforts by both sides to build political trust through high-level visits, including that of President Xi Jinping to India last year followed by Prime Minister Modi’s trip to China.

Intensifying counter-terror cooperation will top the agenda. China has installed a huge number of security forces to pursue Al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) militants in Xinjiang who had bases in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Apart from issues relating to terrorism, Mr Singh’s visit is expected to bolster security cooperation between the two countries, including more effective crackdown by China in limiting arms supplies to militant groups in Northeaster states.

The two countries have held five rounds of Sino-Indian joint military exercises which focus on combating terrorism.

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