NEW DELHI: On the fringes of the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference in New Delhi later this week, the defence ministers of China, Li Shangfu, and Russia, Sergei Shoigu, held bilateral with Rajnath Singh.

The defence ministerial meeting is being hosted by India as part of its presidency of the significant alliance. Sergei Shoigu, the Russian defence minister, and their counterparts from all SCO members, except Khawaja Asif from Pakistan take part the conclave.

The meeting includes participation from the defence ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. India has extended invitations to Belarus and Iran, two countries who are now SCO observers, to attend the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting. The ministers will talk about regional peace and security issues, SCO counterterrorism initiatives, and successful multilateralism.

On April 27 and 28, Raksha Mantri will meet individually with the participating Defence ministers to address bilateral defense-related issues as well as other topics of shared interest.

India and the SCO member nations have long-standing cultural, spiritual, and civilisational ties. Therefore, India's SCO membership in 2017 was a confirmation of New Delhi's desire to strengthen these long-standing connections. India views the SCO as a crucial regional organisation for fostering regional multilateralism in politics, security, trade, and human relations.

India keeps coming up with new suggestions and projects to improve collaboration among the SCO nations. This year, India's chairmanship saw the organisation of two defense-related events to improve cooperation among SCO members.

The first was a workshop on disaster relief and humanitarian aid, while the second was a conference on military medicine, healthcare, and pandemics for defence think tanks from SCO member states. India stands committed to taking forward the Agenda of Shanghai Cooperation under its chairmanship.

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