Rajnath Singh to visit Russia on Tuesday

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will leave for a three-day visit to Moscow on Tuesday where he will co-chair the 19th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military and Military-Technical Cooperation, the defense ministry said on Monday. During his visit, Singh is expected to hold extensive discussions with his Russian counterpart General Sergei Shoigu covering all areas of military-to-military and defense industrial cooperation.

The defense minister was in Uzbekistan from Friday to Sunday to attend the 18th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of SCO at Tashkent. He also held extensive talks with his Uzbek counterpart and deliberated ways to intensify security cooperation. Singh is scheduled to inaugurate, along with the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, 'India-Russia Defence Industry Cooperation Conference'.

The conference will discuss ways to promote defense industrial cooperation between India and Russia, technology transfer and investment in India in the defence industry under the 'Make in India' program. Singh is also scheduled to visit St Petersburg where he will place a wreath at the Piskarevsky Memorial Cemetery honoring the soldiers and civilians who lost their lives during the Second World War.

He may also visit Russian defense production facilities in and around St Petersburg, the defense ministry added.