Rajnath Singh heads to Moscow again; won't meet Chinese countepart in 3-day SCO meet

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday left for Moscow on a three-day visit to Russia where he will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting. ANI sources said that the Raksha Mantri will not meet with his Chinese counterpart in SCO meeting.

'Looking forward to furthering this partnership' 

Before leaving to Moscow, Rajnath Singh took to Twitter to inform about his visit and said that be attending the combined meeting of Defence Ministers of SCO, Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) & CIS members in commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of victory in the World War II.

"I shall also be meeting Russia’s Defence Minister, General Shoigu to discuss bilateral cooperation and issues of mutual interest. India and Russia are privileged Strategic Partners. Looking forward to furthering this partnership during my visit," he said in another tweet.

Meeting in wake of rising tensions along the LAC

The Defence Minister's visit comes just days after India withdrew from a multilateral war game to be held in Russia, and expected to be attended by the Chinese and Pakistani troops. The SCO Defence Ministers' meeting is taking place in the wake of fresh tension between India and China following Chinese army's unsuccessful attempts to alter the status quo on the southern bank of Pangong lake in eastern Ladakh.

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It will be Singh's second visit to Moscow since June. He had represented India at the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on June 24 that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Russia has also invited External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to attend the SCO foreign ministers' meeting on September 10.

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In his bilateral meeting with Russian Defence Minister Shoigu, Singh is likely to press for the early supply of various weapons and spares to the Indian armed forces under defence contracts concluded earlier, PTI reported. In the talks, both sides are expected to officially finalise a long-pending proposal to produce AK 203 rifles in India.

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Officials said Singh is also likely to request the Russian side to ensure timely delivery of the S-400 missile defence systems to India. The delivery of the first batch of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to India is scheduled by the end of 2021.

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