Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has highlighted the importance of continued engagement in defence cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in areas of technical collaboration with Belarus, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan. Mr. Singh held interactions with his counterparts from the three countries on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers’ meeting in Qingdao, China. Mr. Singh also emphasised 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. He briefed his counterparts on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor launched by India to dismantle the terrorist networks in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.