India, Kazakh defence ministers discuss ways to strengthen military ties

New Delhi, April 9 (IANS): Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday held bilateral talks with visiting Kazakhstan's Defence Minister Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev, in which he discussed ways to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.

During the meeting, the two ministers exchanged views to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, including through training, defence exercises and capacity building. They agreed that both sides must look at the possibility of defence industrial collaboration of mutual interest.

Lieutenant General Yermekbayev thanked Singh for the opportunity given to the Kazakh troops for deployment as part of the Indian battalion in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Both ministers also positively assessed the annual KAZIND Exercise.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh, Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary (Defence Production) Raj Kumar and other senior civil and military officials of Ministry of Defence were also present on the occasion.

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Lieutenant General Yermekbayev is on a three-day official visit to India from April 7-10, 2021. He visited HQs 12 Corps at Jodhpur and the Longewala sector in Jaisalmer. The Kazakh Defence Minister is in India on the invitation of India's defence minister.