Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday met his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and deliberated on ways to give greater thrust to defence cooperation between India and the Central Asian countries.
Singh is currently visiting Russia, where he attended the combined meeting of defence ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
In a tweet, the Defence Minister said he had a “productive” interaction with his Kazakh counterpart Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev and discussed ways to further boost bilateral defence cooperation.
“Productive interaction with the Defence Minister of Kazakhstan, Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev. We discussed ways to add further momentum to India-Kazakhstan defence cooperation,” he said.
The Defence Minister said he interacted with his Tajik counterpart Colonel General Sherali Mirzo on a wide spectrum of defence ties between the two countries. He described the meeting as “extremely fruitful”.
“Had an extremely fruitful meeting with Defence Minister of Tajikistan, Colonel-General Sherali Mirzo in Moscow. Our talks included a wide spectrum of India-Tajikistan defence relations,” Singh tweete
He also met his Uzbek counterpart Major General Kurbanov Bakhodir Nizamovich in Moscow.
“I had a wonderful meeting with Uzbekistan’s Minister of Defence, Major General Kurbanov Bakhodir Nizamovich in Moscow today. Defence Cooperation remains an important pillar of India- Uzbekistan bilateral relations,” the Defence Minister said in another tweet.
On Friday, Singh told his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe that attempts by Chinese troops to unilaterally alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) were in violation of the bilateral agreements and Beijing should work with New Delhi for complete disengagement from all friction areas including Pangong Tso.
The Defence Minister made these remarks during their meeting in the Russian capital yesterday, which lasted for two hours and 20 minutes.
According to an official statement, the two ministers had frank and in-depth discussions about the developments in the India-China border areas as well as on India-China relations. During the meeting, the Defence Minister categorically conveyed India’s position on the developments along the LAC, including in the Galwan valley in the Western sector of the India-China Border Areas, in the last few months.
The meeting took place in the backdrop of the standoff between India and China since April-May over the transgressions by the Chinese Army in multiple areas including Finger area, Galwan valley, Hot springs and Kongrung Nala in eastern Ladakh. (ANI)
