Rajnath Singh leaves for Russia to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meet

New Delhi Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday left for Russia on a three-day visit to attend a crucial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and hold talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu on further boosting bilateral defence cooperation.

The Defence Ministers of all eight SCO member nations are expected to deliberate on regional security challenges like terrorism and extremism and ways to deal with them “collectively” in Moscow on Friday, officials said. The meeting is taking place under the shadow of a fierce standoff between India and China, both members of the influential bloc.

Asked about the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Rajnath Singh and Gen Wei on the sidelines of the SCO event, officials said there is no such plan. Mr Singh will leave for India on the evening of September 5.

Chinese Defence Minister Gen Wei Fenghe and Pakistan’s Pervez Khattak are expected to attend the SCO meeting.

“Heading to Moscow. During this visit, I shall be attending the combined meeting of Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) & CIS members in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of victory in the World War II,” Mr Singh tweeted.

“I shall also be meeting Russia’s Defence Minister, General Shoigu to discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual interest. India and Russia are privileged Strategic Partners. Looking forward to further this partnership during my visit,” he said in another tweet.

In his meeting with Mr Shoigu, Rajnath Singh will press for expediting supply of a number of weapons systems, ammunition and spares to India by Russia under contracts which were concluded earlier, officials said.

In the talks, both sides are expected to officially finalise a long-pending proposal to produce AK 203 rifles in India.

Officials said Mr Singh is also likely to request the Russian side to ensure timely delivery of the S-400 missile defence systems to India.

The delivery of the first batch of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India is scheduled by the end of 2021.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member countries including China, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will conduct armies drill from September 15 to 26 in the Astrakhan region of South Russia.

The other countries that will take part in the armies drill will include Mongolia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Belarus, Turkey, Armenia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The next month’s exercise will include 19 county countries that will be hosted by Russia. More than 12 thousand 500 soldiers will participate in this exercise including all countries.

Russia had also invited India with a contingent of about 200 personnel from the three armies to participate in this exercise, but India did not participate in this exercise in view of the ongoing conflict with Pakistan at LoC and China over LAC in eastern Ladakh.