On SCO sidelines, Rajnath and China's defence minister discuss West Asia developments

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Admiral Dong Jun on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) defence ministers' meeting in Bishkek.

In a post on X, he said, “It was a pleasure to interact with the Defence Minister of China Admiral Dong Jun during the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Bishkek.” During the discussions, the ministers shared views on the regional and global security landscape, in particular the developments in West Asia, the defence ministry said.





The meeting came amid India and China’s continuing efforts to rebuild ties after the LAC standoff in 2020. Both sides have initiated a series of measures in the last few months to reset their ties.

In his SCO address, Dong Jun, according to Xinhua, said, “We should deepen defence and security cooperation and promote the SCO... toward greater unity, closer collaboration, stronger vitality, and more effective action”. SCO members should “resolutely uphold the international order, jointly safeguard fairness and justice ... and use shared development to eliminate the breeding ground for turmoil and conflict,” he added.

Rajnath also met his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov on the sidelines of the meet and discussed key aspects of bilateral defence cooperation. He also met defence ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Belarus. Before start of the diplomatic exchanges, the minister paid tributes to fallen heroes by laying a wreath at Victory Square.

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