Qingdao, June 26 (IANS) Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday held meetings with his Belarusian and Russian counterparts on the sidelines of the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting in China’s Qingdao, exchanging views on bilateral defence cooperation along with challenges and security threats in the region.
“Enriching interaction the Belarusian Defence Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin in Qingdao,” Singh posted on X after the meeting.
It was under India’s first-ever presidency of SCO in 2023 that Iran joined the SCO family as a new member and the signing of the Memorandum of Obligation for Belarus’ SCO membership took place.
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also met with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov, discussing the longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation between the two countries in the field of defence.
Talking to X, Singh said, “Happy to have met the Defence Minister of Russia, Andrey Belousov on the sidelines of SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Qingdao. We had insightful deliberations on boosting India-Russia defence ties”.
India has longstanding and wide-ranging cooperation with Russia in the field of defence which is guided by the IRIGC-M&MTC mechanism, headed by the Defence Ministers of both countries.
Longstanding and time-tested partners, both countries have been involved in several bilateral projects, including the supply of S-400, licensed production of T-90 tanks and Su-30 MKI, supply of MiG-29 and Kamov helicopters, INS Vikramaditya (formerly Admiral Gorshkov), production of Ak-203 rifles in India and BrahMos missiles.
New Delhi and Moscow have acknowledged that the military technical cooperation has evolved over time from a buyer-seller framework to one involving joint research and development, co-development and joint production of advanced defence technology and systems.
Addressing the gathering of defence ministers and security officials earlier, Singh called for united global action against terrorism, radicalisation, and extremism, citing them as the biggest threats to regional peace and trust.
Referring to the heinous April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians — including a Nepali national — Defence Minister Singh said India exercised its right to self-defence through Operation Sindoor to dismantle cross-border terror infrastructure. He urged the SCO nations to reject double standards and hold terror sponsors accountable.
“Epicentres of terrorism are no longer safe,” he declared, reaffirming India’s zero-tolerance policy.
The visit comes just over a month after Operation Sindoor, under which India conducted targeted airstrikes on nine high-value terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the deadly Pahalgam terror attack.
It also marks the first trip to China by an Indian Union Minister since bilateral relations were severely strained by the military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that began in May 2020.
–IANS
int/as
