A moment that stood out during the Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's bilateral meeting with Chinese counterpart General Li Shangfu held Thursday where they discussed developments in the India-China border areas as well as bilateral relations was when the former did not exchange a handsh
"We should unitedly fight terrorism. If SCO has to emerge stronger, we have to fight together. Terror groups are using new methods like social media and crowdfunding," said Singh.
Notably, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not exchange handshakes with Li ahead of the bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Li, while, he had handshakes with Tajik, Iran and Kazakh counterparts ahead of the bilateral.
"We have cultural and civilizational links. For ages, we have had people-to-people connect and have exchanges in the field of commodities, and ideas--due to which we have grown in economic and cultural terms. With changing times, we will work to strengthen those linkages. SCO has evolved
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be chairing SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting on April 28th and Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is set to attend the meeting through virtual mode.
Defence Minister held separate bilateral meetings with the Minister of Defence of Kazakhstan Colonel General Ruslan Zhaxylykov and the Minister of Defence of Tajikistan Colonel General Sherali Mirzo in New Delhi.
Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani arrived in Delhi on Thursday to attend Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' Meeting scheduled to be held on Friday.
Defence Ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will participate in the meeting. India has invited Belarus and Iran, currently observers in SCO, to participate in the SCO Defence Ministers' Meeting.
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif is set to skip his India visit and attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting virtually.
According to Global Times, the Chinese Defence Ministry said that from Thursday to Friday (April 27, 28), the Chinese Defence Minister will take part in SCO and will make a speech and meet with the head of delegations from other countries.