Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has reached Moscow on Wednesday to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) meeting here. During his three-days-visit, Singh will hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu on strengthening the bilateral defence ties.
“Reached Moscow this evening. Looking forward to my bilateral meeting with the Russian Counterpart General Sergey Shoygu tomorrow,” Defence Minister Singh tweeted.
“Raksha Mantri Shri @rajnathsingh reached Moscow on a three day visit to Russia. He was received by Ambassador (D. B. Venkatesh Varma) and Major General Bukhteev Yury Nikolaevich at the airport,” the Indian embassy tweeted. He “will be attending Joint Meeting of Defence Ministers of SCO, CIS and CSTO member states,” it added.
Mr Singh will be staying in Moscow till September 5 where he will be attending he combined meeting of defence ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member States in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of victory in the World War II, the government said in a statement.
It is his second visit to Moscow since June. Before heading to Moscow, the Defence Minister had mentioned that he will be discussing bilateral cooperation on issues of mutual interest with Russia. “I shall also be meeting Russia’s Defence Minister, General Shoigu to discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual interest. India and Russia are privileged Strategic Partners. Looking forward to further this partnership during my visit,” he said in a tweet.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) also known as the Shanghai Pact is a Eurasian political, economic and security alliance which comprises eight member states — India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The SCO meeting comes at a time when two of the notable members – India and China are indulged in a fierce fight over border row.
