Russian troops of the Eastern Military District have arrived in India to participate in the Indra-2018 joint military drills, which will be held in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Russia’s military says.
According to Nikolai Voskresensky, the Russian Pacific Fleet spokesman, the servicemen would be part of 500 Russian and Indian troops set to take part in the joint drills, which are scheduled to officially begin in India later on Monday and last until November 28.
“Il-76 military transport aircraft … have landed at the Indian military air base of Gwalior. Then, Russian troops were taken by land transport to the Babin training ground in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northwest India, where a solemn meeting of the participants of the exercises was held in accordance with the national traditions of India,” Russian news agency Sputnik quoted Voskresensky as saying in a press conference on Monday.
The military vehicles for the exercises will be provided by the Indian side, the report by Sputnik further said, adding that during the joint drills, troops of both countries would be working on jointly planning peacemaking operations, coordinating the two sides’ headquarters and ground forces units, as well as neutralizing a simulated group of terrorists.
Last year, Russia and India conducted the Indra-2017 joint military exercises using ships from the Russian and Indian navies, which practiced creating a partial naval and air blockade of the simulated enemy.
According to a statement by the press service of Russia's Eastern Military District, the drills consisted of a practical part and a second phase in which the ships of [Russia's] Pacific Fleet and the Indian Navy fulfilled the tasks of organizing joint air defense at the sea crossing and creating a partial naval and air blockade of the simulated enemy.
Indian and Russian forces taking part in the drills also practiced escorting ships, creating humanitarian corridors, transferring various cargoes on the move, and detaining and inspecting ships that are conventionally captured by pirates.