Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will discuss the challenge posed by terrorism and fundamentalism besides other security-related issues like situation in Afghanistan with his counterparts of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) combine countries in a conclave in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Wednesday.
Defence Ministers of China and Russia Wei Fenghe and Sergei Shoigu, respectively besides other member countries will also participate in the annual Defence Ministers’ meet of the SCO. The event is taking place at a time when conflict is raging in Ukraine and stand-offs persist at some friction points at the border in Eastern Ladakh for the past two years. Defence Minister of Pakistan may also take part in the conclave.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the SCO summit in Tashkent in September second week and is likely to meet Chinese President Xi Jingping and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the summit. Russian President Vladimir Putin will also attend the meet.
Recently, the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting took place in Tashkent and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar represented the country.
The SCO comprises Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan with Afghanistan, Belarus and Iran having observer status. India joined the SCO in 2017.
The defence ministry said here on Monday Rajnath will reach Tashkent on Tuesday. He will hold bilateral meeting with Uzbekistan Defence Minister Minister Lt General Nizamovich. Rajnath will also interact with the Indian community there.
“Tomorrow, August 23, I will be in Uzbekistan to take part in the SCO Defence Ministers Meet being held at Tashkent. I will be holding a bilateral meeting with Uzbekistan’s Defence Minister, Lt. General Nizamovich, and also interact with the Indian community. Look forward to it,” Rajnath said in a tweet message on Monday.
The SCO is an influential economic and security bloc and has emerged as one of the largest transregional international organisations. It was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
India has shown a keen interest in deepening its security-related cooperation with the SCO and its Regional Anti-Terrorism Structure (RATS), which specifically deals with issues relating to security and defence.
India was made an observer at the SCO in 2005 and has generally participated in the ministerial-level meetings of the grouping, which focus mainly on security and economic cooperation in the Eurasian region.