Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday (September 2) landed in Moscow to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting. During his three-day stay in Russia, Singh is also scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu and hold talks on further boosting defence cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow.
"Reached Moscow this evening. Looking forward to my bilateral meeting with the Russian Counterpart General Sergey Shoygu tomorrow," Defence Minister Singh tweeted.
Здравствуйте Russia!
Reached Moscow this evening. Looking forward to my bilateral meeting with the Russian Counterpart General Sergey Shoygu tomorrow. https://t.co/FgayfbJIIR— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) September 2, 2020
"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 said.
The SCO meeting is very crucial as it being held at a time when India and China are locked in a fierce border row. Notably, both India and China are important members of the SCO.
The other members states of the SCO are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It is expected that Chinese Defence Minister Gen Wei Fenghe and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Khattak would also attend the SCO meeting. Sources said that it is highly unlikely that Singh would meet Wei on the sidelines of the SCO event.
Before leaving for Moscow, Singh had tweeted that issues of mutual interest will figure in his talks with Shoigu. "India and Russia are privileged Strategic Partners. Looking forward to further this partnership during my visit," he said.
Government officials said that in his meeting with Shoigu, Singh will seek early supply of a number of weapons systems, ammunition and spares to India by Russia.
