Rajnath Singh is in China for a Defence Ministers’ meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. There he is faced with friends, foes, and disgruntled participants.

His presence at this crucial multilateral forum, amid escalating regional tensions and shifting global dynamics, underscores a strategic manoeuvre by New Delhi that prioritises national interests over traditional bloc allegiances.

Singh’s participation in the SCO Defence Ministers’ meeting is not surprising. It comes against a backdrop of concerted efforts to recalibrate India’s China strategy, particularly in the aftermath of the military standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020 and the deadly Galwan Valley clash. While the face-off has largely ended with disengagement, deep trust deficits remain.

Singh is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart, Admiral Dong Jun, marking their second meeting since November last year and the third high-level engagement between India and China in just two weeks. It follows National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing and a preceding meeting between India’s Foreign Secretary and China’s Vice Foreign Minister.

These engagements, while signalling a limited diplomatic thaw, are fundamentally complicated by China’s continued strategic enablement of Pakistan. During Operation Sindoor, Beijing reportedly provided significant air defence and satellite support, helping Pakistan reorganise its radar and air defence systems to detect Indian troop deployments. This level of logistical and intelligence support, as assessed by a research group under India’s Ministry of Defence, goes beyond mere arms sales and actively contributes to India’s........

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