Rajnath Singh meets Chinese, Russian counterparts on SCO sidelines
The meeting with China’s Defence Minister, Admiral Dong Jun, was the first since 2024
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held separate meetings with his counterparts from China and Russia on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.
Details of the meetings were still not available. However, Singh described his interaction with China’s Defence Minister, Admiral Dong Jun, as “a pleasure” in a post on X following their meeting.
He also termed his meeting with Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov a “great interaction”.
The meeting with Dong Jun was the first since their last interaction in June 2024 at Qingdao, China, at the previous edition of the SCO Defence Ministers meeting.
Since then, things have progressed forward on the pending boundary issue between New Delhi and Beijing. Special Representatives – National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi – have met and explicitly referenced a 2005 agreement, titled Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question, for restarting boundary settlement discussions.
Meanwhile, Singh met Belousov in New Delhi in December last year, when they co-chaired the 22nd session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military Technical Cooperation. The two sides had discussed expedited delivery of S-400 missile systems, upgrades for Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets, and joint production of spare parts.
Later in the day, Singh will speak at the SCO meet and will highlight India’s commitment towards global peace, amidst the prevailing global security challenges, and underline India’s stance on zero tolerance for terrorism and extremism, the Ministry of Defence said.
At the meeting, Defence Ministers of various member countries will deliberate upon a number of issues concerning the defence and security of the region. Issues related to international peace, counter-terrorism and defence cooperation among SCO member states will also be discussed.
This year’s SCO meeting is taking place in the backdrop of geopolitical turmoil being witnessed due to the situation in West Asia. The SCO, one of the largest political and economic organisations of the region, may discuss measures to reduce the impact of the ongoing conflict.
The SCO is an intern-governmental organisation established on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai, China. Its membership includes India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Iran and Belarus. India became a full member in 2017 and assumed the rotating chairmanship in 2023.
