The Ministry of Defence reported on 28 April 2026 that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held bilateral meetings with his Kyrgyz, Kazakh and Belarusian counterparts on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Defence Ministers' Meeting in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The engagements focused on defence cooperation, capacity building and regional security.
In the meeting with Kyrgyz Defence Minister Major General Mukambetov Ruslan Mustafaevich, both sides discussed strengthening existing bilateral defence cooperation. Rajnath Singh gifted two Bhishm Aarogya Maitri Health Cubes to Kyrgyzstan. The systems have been indigenously developed in India for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief and Search and Rescue operations.
Rajnath Singh also announced completion of the project to provide 12 sets of computer systems each at the IT Centres of the Kyrgyz Military Institute in Bishkek and Military Unit 36806 in Osh. The project included wargaming software installation and on-the-job training of Kyrgyz Armed Forces personnel.
With Kazakhstan's Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh said defence cooperation spans diverse sectors and forms an important pillar of bilateral partnership. During the meeting with Belarus Defence Minister Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin, he said India gives high priority to a mutually beneficial partnership with Belarus and identified capacity building and training as major cooperation areas. He briefly interacted with Chinese Defence Minister Admiral Dong Jun and Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov. The ministers exchanged views on regional and global security, particularly developments in West Asia. Singh and other defence ministers also called on Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and laid wreaths at Victory Square.