New Delhi, June 27- Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held special talks with his Russian counterpart Andrei Belousov in the Chinese city of Qingdao. Upgrading of India's Sukhoi-30MKI fighter fleet, production of air-to-air missiles and fast-track delivery of two batches of S-400 missile systems were the main issues during the talks.
The two defence ministers held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Thursday. The Indian Air Force operates around 260 Sukhoi-30MKI jets and is trying to upgrade the fleet under a plan. The Russian-made Sukhoi jets played a key role in Operation Sindhur last month.
The Defence Ministry said on Friday that Singh and Belousov had in-depth discussions on a range of topics, including the current geopolitical situation, cross-border terrorism and India-Russia defence cooperation. The Russian Defence Minister stressed the long-standing India-Russia relations and expressed solidarity with India over the heinous and cowardly Pahalgam terror attack.
Russia has already supplied three units of long-range missile systems to India under a deal worth $5.5 billion. These missile systems were extensively used by the Indian Air Force during the May 7-10 military conflict with Pakistan.
Singh also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Belarus, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan on the sidelines of the SCO meeting.