New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday refrained from committing himself to a meeting sort by his Chinese counterpart General wei funghe on the sidelines of the meeting of Defence Ministers of Shanghai co-operation organization in Moscow.

Amid anger in Beijing over Indian Army occupying strategic heights in the Ladakh Region, according to the sources Rajnath Singh cited his “Tight schedule to avoid spelling out whether he would be able to meet the Chinese Defence Minister”. The Chinese overture for a dialogue comes amid indications that the army took pre-emptive manoeuvres to take control of strategic heights in the Pangong Tso Chushul area.

Interestingly, while no meeting with the Chinese Defence Minister was scheduled, the Indian side had expected the Chinese to seek one in the after math of the army’s Audacious operation on the night of August 29. Ramnath Singh had a very successful round of talks with Russian Defence Minister General Sergey Shoigu.

The meeting, marked by “Great Personnel Chemistry” between the two, saw Shoigu re-iterating Russia’s policy of not supplying arms to Pakistan in response to a request from India said sources. Shoigu assured Rajnath Singh that Russia’s stood by India’s security interest, and extended support to the Make-In-India campaign. Singh thanked Russia for being a reliable source of weapons at crucial times.

Rajnath Singh Conveyed appreciation for steadfast support provided by Russia, consistent with the Defence and Security Needs of India, and in the context, particularly noted the timely manner in which Russia had responded to request for particular weapons systems, said in a official statement.

The meeting coincided with the launch of too ‘Indra’ novel exercises by the navies of India and Russia off the straight of Malacca. Singh emphasized that the exercises demonstrated the common interests of both countries in maritime security in the Indian Ocean. Both sides welcomed the advanced stage of discussions for the establishment in India of an India-Russian joint venture for production of AK-203 assault rifles, said the statement.