Defence minister Rajnath Singh to attend SCO summit in China

Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China and Russia

Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to China this week for talks with his regional counterparts, New Delhi said Tuesday.

Ties between the world's two most populous nations have improved in recent months, after hitting a low in 2020 over a deadly clash between their troops on the Himalayan border.

Singh will join fellow defence ministers in the eastern city of Qingdao for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit starting Wednesday.

He will "outline India's vision towards achieving greater international peace & security, call for joint & consistent efforts to eliminate terrorism & extremism in the region", a defence ministry statement said.

Singh will also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from China and Russia, which are alliance members alongside Pakistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

Ahead of the two-day SCO meeting, India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval held talks in Beijing with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.

Doval "underscored the need to promote the overall development of the India-China bilateral relations", New Delhi said Monday.

Wang said relations have "seen some positive developments" since the two countries' leaders met last year, China's foreign ministry said.

Beijing has granted permission to Indian pilgrims wishing to trek to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a site holy to Hindus and Buddhists, for the first time since the deadly 2020 clash.

The rival countries have also agreed to expedite resuming direct flights.