Dushanbe, Oct. 20 -- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday met Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rosulzoda on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe and discussed issues of mutual interest.

"Pleasure to meet H.E. Mr Mohammad Reza Aref, First Vice President of Iran on the sidelines of the SCO Heads of Government meeting in Dushanbe," Singh said in a post on X.

Singh, who is in Tajikistan on a two-day official visit to represent India at the 25th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), said he was delighted to meet Tajik PM Rosulzoda.

"Underlined the longstanding civilisational ties and deep people-to-people links between India and Tajikistan," he added.

On Monday, Singh held a "productive discussion" with Tajik Defence Minister Emomali Sobirzoda and exchanged views on strengthening bilateral defence cooperation in areas of mutual interest, with an emphasis on capacity building and training.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.