Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday met Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rosulzoda on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe and discussed issues of mutual interest.
“Pleasure to meet H.E. Mr Mohammad Reza Aref, First Vice President of Iran, on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe,” Singh said in a post on X.
Singh, who is in Tajikistan on a two-day official visit to represent India at the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), said he was delighted to meet Tajik PM Rosulzoda. “Underlined the longstanding civilisational ties and deep people-to-people links between India and Tajikistan,” he added.
On Monday, Singh held a “productive discussion” with Tajik Defence Minister Emomali Sobirzoda and exchanged views on strengthening bilateral defence cooperation in areas of mutual interest, with an emphasis on capacity building and training.
India on Tuesday said that there can be “no justification” for terrorism and “no double standards” in addressing the menace, as it called on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states to make concerted efforts to “dismantle” the entire “ecosystem of terrorism.”
Addressing the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the SCO in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also said that terrorism radicalises societies and deprives youth of the opportunities they deserve. “There can be no justification for terrorism, no double standards in addressing it, and no place for those who finance, support, or provide safe havens to terrorists,” Singh told the gathering, which included Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who was seated at the same table.