India begins joint military drills with Russia in Rajasthan
India conducts large-scale military exercises with participation of Russian forces (Illustrative photo: facebook.com/mod.mil.rus)
Russia and India have launched a new stage of joint military exercises aimed at strengthening cooperation and sharing experience in counterterrorism. The maneuvers are taking place in the Indian state of Rajasthan and will continue until mid-October, reports Reuters.
The Russian-Indian military exercises, Indra 2025, have commenced at the Mahajan training ground and will continue until October 15. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the primary objective of the maneuvers is to enhance joint counterterrorism operations and improve the level of interaction between the units of the two countries.
"The main goal of the drills is honing the cohesion of both countries' units in the fight against terrorism, including the perfection of counter-terrorism operations' tactics. Particular attention will be paid to increasing the operational compatibility of units and exchanging the best practices in the context of modern warfare," the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.
Possible visit of Putin to India
According to media reports, the Russian leader is expected to visit India on December 5–6. It is expected that he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Preparations for the visit were announced back in August, when India's National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, was on a working visit to Moscow. However, the exact dates of the meeting were not disclosed at that time.
Context and significance of the exercises
The joint military training series Indra has been conducted since 2003 and aims to strengthen the strategic partnership between Moscow and New Delhi. Despite international pressure, India continues to maintain military ties with Russia, utilizing them to exchange experiences and enhance the interoperability of their armed forces in various combat scenarios.
Indian state-owned oil refining companies have begun switching to payments in yuan for Russian oil. According to sources, traders working with Russian supplies demanded that payments be made specifically in the Chinese currency. In particular, the largest state-owned company, Indian Oil Corporation, has already paid in yuan for several batches of raw materials from Russia.
India is negotiating with Russia to purchase an additional five S-400 surface-to-air missile systems, expanding the initial contract signed in October 2018 for the supply of the first five systems.
