Rajnath Singh to attend SCO meeting in Uzbekistan, visit Russia later

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Uzbekistan to participate in the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) heads of states meeting being held in capital Tashkent on November 1.

"The Defence Minister will visit Tashkent on November 1 where he will attend the SCO meeting and also hold a bilateral meeting with his Uzbek counterpart there," Defence Ministry officials said here.

India and Uzbekistan have been strengthening their military ties in recent times and conducted bilateral exercises between their respective armies.

The SCO member states include: India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The member states had last met in June at a conference in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where they had called for greater cooperation to tackle the threat of terrorism.

Subsequently, the Defence Minister will also visit Moscow to co-chair a high-level defence cooperation meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu.

India and Russia have been strategic defence partners for several decades, and the two countries would look for closer cooperation during the meeting.