Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts of SCO member countries in New Delhi today

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, SCO member countries in New Delhi today. During the meeting, bilateral defence-related issues and other matters of mutual interest will be discussed. Mr Singh will chair the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting in New Delhi tomorrow. 

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. 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 an effective multilateralism.

 

India has ancient civilizational, 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.