India’s Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fleet, production of air-to-air missiles and expeditious supply of two batches of S-400 missile systems figured prominently in Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s talks with his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov in the Chinese city of Qingdao. The two Defence Ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of SCO on Thursday. The Indian Air Force is operating around 260 Sukhoi 30-MKI jets and it is looking at upgrading the fleet under an ambitious plan.

 

The Russian-origin Sukhoi jets played a key role in Operation Sindoor last month. Singh and Belousov held in-depth discussions on a range of subjects covering current geopolitical situations, cross-border terrorism and Indo-Russian defence cooperation, the Defence Ministry said on Friday. The Russian Defence Minister highlighted the long-standing Indo-Russian relations and expressed solidarity with India on the horrendous and cowardly Pahalgam terrorist attack, it said. Singh also held separate bilateral talks with his counterparts from Belarus,

 

Tajikistan and Kazakhstan on the margins of the SCO meet. “In his interaction with the Ministers, Raksha Mantri highlighted the importance of continued engagement in defence cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in areas of technical collaboration,” the Defence Ministry said. He highlighted the rapid advances made by India in the field of defence production. Singh also briefed his counterparts on the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor that was aimed at dismantling the terrorist networks in Pakistan.