Rajnath Singh meets Afghan Chief Executive in Tashkent

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met Dr Abdullah Abdullah, the Chief Executive of Afghanistan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting here on Saturday.

The leader laid emphasis on economic cooperation during his address at the SCO meeting earlier in the day. He also underlined the importance for SCO countries to come together to deal with the menace of terrorism.

He was received by the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov at the SCO meeting, according to the Office of the Raksha Mantri.

Singh had reached Tashkent for a three-day visit on November 1. He paid floral tributes at the statue of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on Shastri Street here. The former leader had passed away in Tashkent on January 11, 1966.

The Defence Minister also visited the Shastri Memorial School here and interacted with the students studying there. He also signed the Visitors Book at the school in which he paid tributes to Shastri.

Apart from participating in the SCO meeting, he will also hold bilateral engagements with Uzbekistan leaders.