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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.
The minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will likely meet on the sidelines of the SCO summit. Earlier, Sergei Shoigu visited India in December 2021 for the first India-Russia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. The Defence Ministers will discuss matters concerning regional peace and security, counter-terrorism efforts within SCO and effective multilateralism, said the Ministry of Defence in an official statement. The theme of India's Chairmanship of SCO in 2023 is 'Secure-SCO'. India attaches special importance to SCO in promoting multilateral, political, security, economic and people-to-people interactions in the region. Meanwhile, Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu also arrived in New Delhi on Thursday to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting. Li Shangfu will also take part in the bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. This is the first visit by the Chinese Defence Minister following the border transgression in Galwan. India and China recently held the 18th round of the India-China Corps Commander Level Meeting at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Chinese side. India, and China during the 18th round of Corps Commander Level Meeting, agreed to maintain security and stability on the ground in the Western Sector of the LAC. The meeting took place after a gap of five months. The last meeting between the two sides at the Corps Commander level was held in December last year. Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2001. The SCO members include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan besides India. Apart from the member states, two observer countries Belarus and Iran will also be participating in the SCO Defence Ministers Meeting. The ongoing engagement with SCO has helped India promote its relations with the countries in the region with which India has shared civilizational linkages, and is considered India's extended neighbourhood. (ANI)
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