Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei K Shoigu on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi.
Shoigu and Singh discussed several issues including bilateral defence cooperation, military-to-military ties and industrial partnership.
The defence minister also discussed the Russian defence industry’s participation in the ‘Make in India’ initiative and how it could be further increased, according to a statement released by the government.
“The two ministers discussed wide-ranging issues of bilateral defence cooperation, including military-to-military ties as well as industrial partnership. They also discussed the Russian defence industry’s participation in the ‘Make in India’ initiative and ways to provide further impetus to it,” the statement said.
Issues related to regional peace and security were also discussed between both ministers. Rajnath Singh and Sergei Shoigu expressed their satisfaction with the continued trust and mutual respect between India and Russia and committed to strengthening the relationship.
“They expressed satisfaction over the continued trust and mutual respect between the two countries, particularly in defence and reiterated their commitment towards strengthening the partnership. They acknowledged the unique, long-lasting and time-tested relationship between India and Russia,” the statement said.
During the defence ministers’ meeting, Singh highlighted the importance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative ‘SECURE’ and said it reflects India’s commitment to multi-dimensional welfare of the region.
Singh drew the attention of the defence ministers to the large part of the world suffering from a food crisis and urged during the conclave to ensure food security under an integrated plan.
“This will establish SCO as a role model for the whole world. Energy security should be a part of the common strategy,” the defence minister was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
PM Modi first introduced the concept of SECURE during the 2018 SCO Summit in Qingdao, China.
He explained what every alphabet stands for in ‘SECURE’ and said ‘S’ stands for ‘security of citizens’, ‘E’ stands for ‘economic development for all’, ‘C’ stands for ‘connecting the region’, ‘U’ stands for ‘uniting the people’, ‘R’ stands for ‘respect for Sovereignty and Integrity’ and ‘E’ stands for ‘environmental protection’.
During Friday’s meeting, the SCO members enthusiastically participated in two seminars chaired by the defence minister Rajnath Singh.
The first was a workshop on ‘Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR)’ and the other was a seminar on ‘defence think tanks of SCO countries’.
(with inputs from Shalinder Wangu)
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