Lucknow: The defence minister, Rajnath Singh, on Wednesday, held meeting with his counterparts from UAE, UK, Maldives, Kyrgyzstan and Oman in an effort to enhance the defence cooperation. The 11th edition of biennial defence show DefExpo is being held for the first time in Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh.
“In the bilateral meeting with Mohammed Al Bowardi, MoS for defence affairs of the UAE, the defence minister, Rajanth Singh, exchanged views on further strengthening the cooperation in defence affairs,” the defence ministry said. They expressed satisfaction at various dimensions of the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries.
Welcoming the UAE minister, Singh invited him to explore varied cultural and touristic potential of Uttar Pradesh.
“The warmth and bonhomie shared between the top leadership of both the countries over the years has resulted in transforming bilateral cooperation to a strategic partnership,” a defence official said.
In the delegation level bilateral meeting with UK minister for defence procurement James Heappey, Singh underlined the growing ties between the two countries.
The discussions while touching on various aspects related to defence cooperation, also focussed on opportunities to further enhance defence engagements between the two countries. They have agreed to meet again tomorrow to continue the parleys.
In the third meeting, the minister held bilateral level talks with Uza Mariya Ahmed Didi, defence minister for Maldives. The Maldivian minister expressed her country’s gratitude for India’s assistance over the years and recently in bringing back Maldivian students from the coronavirus affected Wuhan region in China.
She underlined the opportunities that exist to further enhance defence cooperation especially in the maritime domain, to which Singh responded positively. Both the ministers noted that Cooperation in the field of defence industry also forms an important part of strategic partnership between both the countries.
Colonel Erlis Terdikbayev, the defence minister of Kyrgyzstan, met him and discussed a wide range of issues pertaining to defence cooperation between the two countries.
In a significant decision, both leaders agreed that the joint exercise involving the special forces of India and Kyrgyzstan named Khanjar VII shall be held soon in India. It was also decided that the first joint working group between the two countries on defence cooperation would be held within the next two to three months.
Holding the last and fifth meeting of the morning with Badr Saud Harib Al Busaidi, minister for defence affairs, Sultanate of Oman, Singh stressed that defence cooperation was the key pillar of bilateral relations between the two countries.
Both ministers discussed measures to further strengthen defence partnership, by enhancing joint maritime security exercises. He expressed willingness of India’s defence industry especially defence PSUs to work more closely with Oman.
The common theme among views expressed by the visiting dignitaries was to express gratitude for the invitation to visit DefExpo 2020 and conveyed their best wishes for the success of the event, which had proved to be an effective platform for sharing, collaborating and cooperating on various defence technologies.
There was also unanimity on further exploring and strengthening bilateral relations with India, in particular in defence domain to expedite joint projects.
