The Defence Minister is expected to meet his Tajik counterpart Col Gen Mirzo to discuss bilateral and other issues of mutual interest

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday embarked on a three-day visit to Dushanbe to attend the annual meeting of the Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states.

Defence Ministers of Russia, China, Pakistan and the rest four Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are also participating in the July 27-29 meeting of the SCO in Dushanbe.

It should be recalled that Tajikistan is chairing the SCO this year and hosting a series of ministerial and official-level meetings.

According to the Ministry of Defence, during his visit to the capital city of Tajikistan, Rajnath Singh is scheduled to address at the annual meeting of SCO Defence Ministers on July28.

In the meeting defence cooperation, issues among SCO member states are to be discussed and a communique is expected to be issued after the deliberations.

During his visit, the Defence Minister is also expected to meet his Tajik counterpart Col Gen Sherali Mirzo to discuss bilateral issues and other issues of mutual interest.

In September last year, Singh had addressed the Combined Meeting of Defence Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Member States in Moscow.

In April 2018, for the first time, India had participated in the 15th SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting held in Beijing after joining the intergovernmental organization in 2017.