Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will travel to the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on a three-day visit to attend a defence ministerial conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu are also expected to attend the SCO meet, besides their counterparts from other member countries of the grouping.
The SCO defence ministerial meeting is taking place around three weeks ahead of the annual summit of the influential grouping.
The summit is scheduled for September 15-16 in Samarkand.
“I will be in Uzbekistan to take part in the SCO Defence Ministers Meet being held at Tashkent. I will be holding a bilateral meeting with Uzbekistan’s Defence Minister, Lt. General Nizamovich, and also interact with the Indian community. Look forward to it,” Singh said in a tweet on Monday.
The defence ministry said Singh, during his August 23-25 visit to Tashkent, will meet the defence ministers of some of the SCO member countries.
However, there is no clarity on whether there will be a meeting between Singh and Shoigu.
Singh is scheduled to deliver his address at the SCO meeting on August 24.
“During the visit to Tashkent, Raksha Mantri will meet his Uzbekistan counterpart Lieutenant General Bakhodir Kurbanov, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Uzbekistan, which is also the host country,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
“In addition, meetings are also scheduled with Defence Ministers of some other member countries of SCO on the sidelines of this meeting, where bilateral issues and issues of mutual interest will be discussed,” it added.