Rajnath Singh, Kazakhstan Defence Minister review 'full range of bilateral defence ties'

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on April 9 met his Kazakhstan counterpart Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev in New Delhi. While taking to Twitter, Singh informed that during the meeting, they both reviewed the full range of bilateral defence ties and exchanged views to further strengthen defence cooperation, including through training, defence exercises and capacity building. The two ministers also agreed that sides must look at the possibility of defence industrial collaboration of mutual interest. 

The Defence Minister of Kazakhstan thanked the Raksha Mantri for the opportunity given to the Kazakh troops for deployment as part of the Indian battalion in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. Both the leaders also positively assessed the annual KAZIND Exercise. Other officials including Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar, were also present in the meeting. 

Kazakh Defence Minister accorded with Guard of Honour 

Yermekbayev, who is on an official visit to India from April 7 to April 10, also visited the War Memorial in Delhi and paid his respect to the fallen soldiers by laying a wreath. According to ANI, the Defence Minister of Kazakhstan was accorded with the Guard of Honour at Vigyan Bhawan in the presence of Rajnath Singh. Yermekbayev also visited HQs 12 Corps at Jodhpur and the Longewala sector in Jaisalmer. 

It is worth mentioning that Friday’s meeting was Yermekbayev’s first with Singh after he was re-appointed as the Defence Minister of Kazakhstan. According to the official press release, the two Ministers had last met in Moscow in September 2020 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting. The Kazakh Defence Minister is in India on the invitation of Rakha Mantri Rajnath Singh. 

(Image: @rajnathsingh/Twitter)