Bishkek, April 28 — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Kazakhstan’s Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Dauren Kosanov, in Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Defence Ministers’ Meeting. The talks concentrated on deepening defence cooperation and strengthening strategic ties between India and Kazakhstan within the wider context of regional security and collaboration. The two ministers also exchanged gifts during the meeting. Earlier the same day, Singh met Kyrgyzstan’s Defence Minister, Major General Mukambetov Ruslan Mustafaevich, to discuss steps to expand bilateral defence engagement. Singh later described that meeting on X as extremely productive and underscored India’s resolve to enhance its partnership with the Kyrgyz Republic. He noted that cooperation between India and Kyrgyzstan covers multiple sectors, with defence cooperation being a key pillar, and highlighted shared values of democracy, development, culture and heritage. During the meeting with the Kyrgyz defence minister Singh presented two BHISHM Cube modular trauma care systems as a humanitarian contribution. The Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri (BHISHM) Cubes are indigenously developed, compact, portable units designed to deliver first-line trauma care within the golden hour; they contain essential medicines and equipment for rapid deployment in emergencies and form part of Project Aarogya Maitri. Singh is leading a high-level Indian delegation to the SCO Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Bishkek.
