Rajnath holds talks with Uzbek, Kazakh and Belarusian counterparts at SCO

New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday held bilateral meetings in Tashkent with his Uzbek counterpart Lt Gen Bakhodir Kurbanov, Defence Minister of Kazakhstan Colonel General Zhaksylykov Ruslan Zhakslykov and Belarusian Defence Minister Lt Gen Viktor Khrenin.
During the meetings, the entire spectrum of defence cooperation with the three countries was reviewed, with a focus on identifying avenues to expand mutually beneficial collaboration, the Defence Ministry said.
Issues of mutual interest were also discussed during the talks.
“Had an excellent meeting with the Defence Minister of Uzbekistan, Lt Gen Bakhodir Kurbanov in Tashkent. During our talks, we reviewed the India-Uzbekistan defence relationship. Our cooperation is based on a solid foundation and it will continue to grow over the coming decades,” Rajnath Singh said in a tweet.
“Had a wonderful meeting with the Defence Minister of Kazakhstan, Col Gen Ruslan Zhakslykov today in Tashkent. We discussed the entire gamut of the ongoing defence and security cooperation and other issues of mutual interest. We agreed to further deepen the defence cooperation,” the Minister added.
The Minister will attend the Annual Meeting of the Defence Ministers’ of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States on Wednesday.
Defence cooperation issues among the SCO Member States will be discussed during the meeting.
A joint communiqué is expected to be issued after the deliberations.
During the stay in Tashkent, Rajnath Singh will pay homage at the monument of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and meet Indian Diaspora in Uzbekistan. (UNI)