Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat is in Russia to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) peace mission exercise, the Indian embassy in Russia said on Wednesday.
The CDS would witness the activities of the respective armed forces taking part in the SCO peace mission drills being held in Russia. Indian Army and Air Force are also taking part in the exercise there.
The aim of the exercise is to foster close relations between SCO member states and to enhance the abilities of the military leaders to command multi-national military contingents.
This is the first foreign visit of General Rawat after taking over as the CDS.
Earlier this week, a senior defence official said, "There is a conference of the CDS-rank officers of the SCO member countries. China and Pakistan are also part of this grouping."
The CDS conference would be focusing on addressing the regional security issues and Afghanistan is also likely to come up for discussion, the official said.
( With inputs from ANI )
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