Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, German counterpart Boris Pistorius hold bilateral talks

New Delhi [India], June 6 (ANI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius held a bilateral meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

A host of bilateral defence cooperation issues, with a focus on industrial cooperation, are likely to be discussed during the meeting.

Pistorius, who is on a four-day visit to India, was accorded a Guard of Honour at Manekshaw Centre in the presence of Rajnath Singh in Delhi. He also laid a wreath at National War Memorial in the national capital.

Pistorius, who arrived in the national capital yesterday is accompanied by a German delegation.

Pistorius is likely to meet a few defence start-ups during an event organised by Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) in New Delhi, the Ministry of Defence earlier said in a statement.

Bilateral ties between India and Germany are founded on common democratic principles and are marked by a high degree of trust and mutual respect, according to the Ministry of External Affairs. India was amongst the first countries to establish diplomatic ties with Germany after the Second World War.

On June 7, the German Federal Minister of Defence will visit Mumbai where he is likely to visit Western Naval Command Headquarters and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.

Ahead of his visit to India, the German Defence Minister said India’s continuing dependence on Russian weapons is not in Germany’s interest, German news agency Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.

“It is not up to Germany to change that on our own,” Pistorius said in an exclusive interview with DW’s top political correspondent Nina Haase in Jakarta. Pistorius was in Jakarta ahead of his four-day visit to India.

“This is an issue we have to solve jointly with other partners. But of course, we can’t have an interest in the long run that India is so dependent on Russia’s delivery of weapons or other materials,” he added.

Pistorius said that Germany is ready to support partners like India. He said, “I want to send a signal that we are willing to support our partners, our reliable partners like Indonesia, like India,” DW reported.