The ministers will discuss matters related to regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism…reports Asian Lite News
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will chair the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers Meeting on April 28 in New Delhi.
Defence Ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in the meeting. India has invited Belarus and Iran, currently observers in SCO, to participate in the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting.
The Defence Minister of Pakistan would be participating virtually.
The ministers will discuss matters related to regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism.
Raksha Mantri will be holding bilateral meetings with the participating Defence ministers on April 27 and 28 where bilateral defence-related issues and other matters of mutual interest will be discussed.
India has ancient civilisational, cultural and spiritual ties with the SCO member countries. India’s membership of SCO in 2017, was, therefore, a reaffirmation of New Delhi’s keenness to deepen these historic ties.
India considers SCO as an important regional group to promote multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.
India continues to bring more ideas and initiatives to strengthen cooperation amongst SCO countries. Under its chairmanship, this year, India organised two defence-related activities to enhance interoperability amongst SCO member-states.
The first was a workshop on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and the second was a seminar on SCO countries’ defence think-tanks on the issue of Armed Forces contributing to Military Medicine, Healthcare and Pandemics.
India stands committed to taking forward the Agenda of SCO under its chairmanship.
Chinese Defence Minister lands in India
Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu arrived in New Delhi on Thursday to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting scheduled to be held on Friday in the National Capital.
Li Shangfu will also take part in the bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh.
This is the first visit by the Chinese Defence Minister following the border transgression in Galwan.
India and China recently held the 18th round of the India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side.
India, and China during the 18th round of Corps Commander Level Meeting, agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector of the LAC.
The meeting took place after a gap of five months. The last meeting between the two sides at the Corps Commander level was held in December last year.
Meanwhile, the Indian Defence Minister is also likely to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu. The Russian Defence Minister last visited India for the first India-Russia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in December 2021.
Iranian counterpart arrives
Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani arrived in Delhi on Thursday to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ Meeting scheduled to be held on Friday.
The minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will likely meet on the sidelines of the SCO summit.
Earlier, Sergei Shoigu visited India in December 2021 for the first India-Russia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.