Rajnath expected to visit Russia next week to attend SCO meet

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is expected to visit Russia next week to attend a crucial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) which is expected to deliberate on regional security scenario and geo-strategic developments, official sources said on Friday.

 The SCO defence ministers’ meeting is taking place at a time when two of its member countries, India and China, are locked in a bitter border standoff in eastern Ladakh. The sources said Singh is likely to leave for Moscow on September 3 as the meeting is expected to take place the next day.

 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.