New Delhi, Apr 8 (IANS): The Defence Minister of Kazakhstan, Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev, arrived in India on Wednesday for a three-day visit to strengthen the defence ties between the two countries.

India's defence partnership with Kazakhstan, which is China's neighbour, will help New Delhi counter Beijing's expansionist move. Beijing shares 1,782.75 km borders with Kazakhstan.

The Kazakh Defence Minister is expected to travel to Jaisalmer, New Delhi and Agra for meetings besides visiting defence establishments. He will hold a bilateral meeting with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on April 9.

"This will be the first meeting after Lieutenant General Nurlan Yermekbayev was re-appointed as the Defence Minister of Kazakhstan," said the Defence Ministry.

The two ministers had last met in Moscow on September 5, 2020 on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers' meeting. Singh had then invited the Kazakh Defence Minister to India.

Indian and Kazakh companies are in talks for co-production and co-development in defence production. Both the countries are leveraging opportunities not just for co-development and co-production, but to also meet each other's requirements.

Kazakhstan has expressed that it is interested in the joint production of aerospace equipment. They have also expressed interest over issues related to repair, maintenance and upgrade of the military equipment and setting up joint ventures.