Peace and security in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) region demands a climate of trust, non-aggression, respect for international rules and peaceful resolution of differences, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Friday, seen as an indirect message to China which is engaged in a festering border row with India in eastern Ladakh. In his address at a ministerial meeting of the SCO here in the Russian capital, Singh also referred to the Second World War and said its memories teach the globe the “folies of aggression” of one state upon another that brings “destruction” to all. Both India and China are members of the SCO, an eight-nation regional grouping which primarily focuses on issues relating to security and defence. “Peaceful stable and secure region of SCO member states – which is home to over 40 per cent of the global population, demands a climate of trust and cooperation, non-aggression, respect for international rules and norms, sensitivity to each other's interest and peaceful resolution of differences,” Singh said. He made the comments in the presence of Chinese Defen­ce Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe.

DefMin lauds Russia scientists for developing vaccine

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the government and people of Russia for succe­ssfully managing the coronavi­rus pandemic in the country and lauded its scientists for de­v­eloping a vaccine.

President Vladimir Putin last month ann­ounced that Russian scientists had developed the world's first vaccine against Covid-19, Sputnik-V. He said one of his daughters had already been vaccinated with it and that it works “quite effectively” and forms “stable immunity”. PTI