Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh holds bilateral meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin
Apr 28, 2023
New Delhi [India], April 28 : Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a bilateral meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Lieutenant General Viktor Gennadievich Khrenin, on the sidelines of the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting in Delhi.
"Had fruitful discussions with the Defence Minister of Belarus, Lieutenant General Khernin Victor Gennadievich in New Delhi," the Union Defence Minister tweeted on Friday.
Rajnath Singh earlier on Friday, held a bilateral with his Russian counterpart General Sergei K Shoigu.
The two Ministers spoke on a variety of topics related to bilateral defence cooperation, including industrial cooperation and military-to-military ties.
They also discussed the Russian defence industry's participation in the 'Make in India' initiative and ways to provide further impetus to it, the Ministry of Defence said in an official statement.
Earlier today, Singh while addressing SCO Defence Ministers' meeting in New Delhi said that India believes in maintaining peace and security based on UN Charter provisions and exhorted for concerted efforts to ensure win-win cooperation for great gain.
Furthermore, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also touched upon the two defence-related activities launched by India, as the SCO chair, to increase interoperability among member states. These are: a workshop on 'Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)' and a seminar on 'defence think tanks of SCO countries'. Both events witnessed enthusiastic participation from all SCO countries.
He also voiced India's commitment towards defence capacity building of SCO member states through training and co-manufacturing & co-development of items. He stated that as security challenges are not limited to any one country, India is moving forward with a collaborative approach in the field of defence partnership, keeping in mind the shared interests.
Defence Ministers of China (General Li Shangfu); Russia (General Sergei Shoigu); Iran (Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani); Belarus (Lt Gen Khrenin VG); Kazakhstan (Col Gen Ruslan Zhaxylykov); Uzbekistan (Lt Gen Bakhodir Kurbanov); Kyrgyzstan (Lt Gen Bekbolotov Baktybek Asankalievich) and Tajikistan (Col Gen Sherali Mirzo) attended the meeting. The Ministers discussed issues of common concern including issues of regional and international security under the charter of SCO during the meeting.
Singh has called upon the SCO member states to collectively work towards eliminating terrorism in all its forms and fix accountability on those who aid or fund such activities.
The theme of India's Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is 'Secure-SCO'. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001. The SCO members include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting.
