Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Belarus, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan on the sidelines of the  Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting in Qingdao and briefed them on Operation Sindoor.

He met Defence Minister of Belarus Lieutenant General Victor Khrenin, Defence Minister of Tajikistan Lieutenant General Sobrizoda Emomali Abdurakhim and Defence Minister of Kazakhstan Lieutenant General Dauren Kosanov on Thursday.

In his interaction with the Ministers, Singh highlighted the importance of continued engagement in defence cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in areas of technical collaboration.

He highlighted the rapid advances made by India in the field of defence production and achieving self-reliance in meeting its defence requirements in several key areas.

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Rajnath Singh also briefed his counterparts on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor launched by India aimed at dismantling the terrorist networks in Pakistan.

The Ministers agreed to continue cooperation to enhance capacity building, training, military technical cooperation, military education amongst other areas of common interest.

India launched Operation Sindoor as a response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam town on April 22, which left 26 people, mostly tourists, killed.

India targeted several terror bases located in Pakistan and PoK as part of Operation Sindoor on May 7.

Pakistan targeted several Indian cities with drones in the following days, and India retaliated, finally reaching a ceasefire after four days of conflict.