During the visit, Rajesh Kumar Singh held bilateral meetings with Deputy Defence Minister of Armenia, Karen Brutyan, and First Deputy Defence Minister and Chief of General Staff of Armenia, Edward Asryan.
The discussions covered the entire gamut of ongoing defence and military technical cooperation, with particular emphasis on capacity building, training, military technical cooperation and defence research and development (R&D). The two sides also exchanged the Terms of Reference for institutionalising Joint Services Staff Talks between the Indian and Armenian Armed Forces.
The Defence Secretary called on Davit Tradevosyan, Minister of Hi-tech Industry of Armenia, and exchanged views on proposals relating to defence research and development. Coinciding with the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two Defence Ministries to expand cooperation in the fields of joint collaboration, innovation and research was concluded and signed.
Rajesh Kumar Singh also called on Suren Papikyan, Minister of Defence of Armenia. During the meeting, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen India-Armenia defence cooperation and discussed new avenues for enhancing cooperation in military technical cooperation.
As part of the visit, the Defence Secretary visited the Armenian Military Academy named after Vazgen Sargasyan and interacted with the Head and faculty members of the Academy. During his visit to the IT Lab at the Academy, established with Indian assistance, he underlined the vital role of capacity building and training as an important pillar of India-Armenia defence cooperation.
The Defence Secretary had a fruitful meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, Mr Mnatsakan Safaryan, in Yerevan. The discussions focused on the expanding defence partnership between India and Armenia. As Armenia seeks to diversify its defence procurement, India has emerged as a major partner in military technical cooperation. Both countries share similar views on multilateralism and strategic autonomy.
The visit demonstrated the increasing congruence of views between India and Armenia on bilateral, regional and global issues, besides reaffirming the firm commitment of both sides to take the already robust bilateral defence partnership to the next level.
