Rajnath Singh will visit China this week, the first trip by an Indian home minister to the country in a decade during which the two nations will discuss ways to boost security ties especially on fighting cross border terror and smuggling of Chinese arms to militants in the northeast. Singh's five-day visit from November 19, the first after the tour of then home minister Shivraj Patil in 2005, comes in the backdrop of steady improvement of relations between both the countries while streamlining mechanisms to address the vexed border dispute.
During his visit, Singh, the second highest ranking Indian leader after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's to visit China in May this year, would spend three days in Beijing followed by a two-day stay in Shanghai. Besides holding talks with his counterparts in China's political dispensation, Singh is also expected to call on high level Chinese leaders. His visit closely follows 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 and Pakistan this week, also the first tour by China's highest ranking military official to both the countries in a decade.
Both Indian and Chinese officials view Singh's visit as an opportunity to consolidate efforts by both sides to build political trust initiated during the visits of President Xi Jinping to India last year followed by Modi's trip here. While the issues relating to standoffs at the border between both the troops were being addressed by the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC), Singh's visit is expected to firm up security cooperation in various fronts.
China for its part has pressed huge number of security forces to crackdown on al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) militants in Xinjiang who had bases in Pakistan's tribal areas. India too faces the constant threat of cross border terrorism emanating from Pakistan across the Line of Control. Indian officials stress that ironically both countries faced cross border terrorist threat from a "joint source" which happens to be Pakistan. Besides issues relating to terrorism, Singh's talks here are expected to crystallise security cooperation between the two countries including more effective crackdown by China in limiting arms supplies to militant groups in India's northeastern states.
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