October 20,2017: The first-ever Tri Services Joint Exercise between Indian and Russian Armed Forces, INDRA-2017 began on Thursday near Vladivostok in Russia.
Two indigenously built Indian Naval ships INS Satpura and INS Kadmatt reached Vladivostok Port yesterday and were given a traditional ceremonial welcome.
The Indian contingent for the Exercise is led by the Task Force Commander Major General ND Prasad.
The Exercise INDRA in its previous nine editions has been conducted as a single service exercise alternately between the two countries.
This year the Exercise has been upgraded to involve all the three Services Army, Navy and Air Force.
It further accentuates the importance of Joint Services in the present world environment.
The Exercise INDRA will be conducted from today at the 249th Combined Army Range Sergeevisky and in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok.
The Indian contingent comprises of 350 personnel from Army, 80 from Air Force, two IL 76 aircraft and one Frigate and Corvette each from the Navy.
The Russian Federation Armed Forces will be represented by approximately 1000 troops of the 5th Army, Marines and Ships of Pacific Fleet and aircraft from Eastern Military District.
Exercise INDRA-2017 will be a landmark event in the history of Indo-Russian defence co-operation and will strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces.
India and Russia have had longstanding military and diplomatic ties and to preserve these bonds of cooperation, India and Russia undertake the annual military exercise INDRA.
This milestone in military cooperation of the two nations epitomizes their strong and resilient relations.
The joint tri-service exercise will be a demonstration of the increasing commitment of both nations to address common challenges across the full spectrum of operations. (AIR NEWS)
