India, Russia reaffirm strategic partnership at SCO security talks

The North News
New Delhi, June 24

India and Russia reaffirmed their longstanding strategic alliance on Tuesday as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met  Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council, leksandr Venediktov, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Security Council Secretaries’ summit in Beijing. The meeting comes amid growing geopolitical flux and shifting alliances in the region. Both sides reviewed bilateral, regional, and global security developments, with a renewed emphasis on reinforcing defence and strategic collaboration under the ambit of the “India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”.

In what was described as a “forward-looking conversation”, Russia extended an invitation to Doval for the next round of the high-level strategic dialogue in Moscow. The exact timing of the visit remains unspecified but is expected in the near future.

Sources familiar with the discussion said both Doval and Venediktov underlined the need to build on the shared vision laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin. The dialogue reportedly touched on the evolving security architecture in Eurasia, counterterrorism cooperation, and connectivity initiatives under the SCO.