Indra Navy-18 Joint Exercise concluded between India and Russia

Indra Navy-18, a bilateral naval exercise, between India and Russia concluded on 16th December 2018. It was a 4-day maritime exercise that took place in the Bay of Bengal.
INDRA NAVY or India – Russia Navy Exercise is being conducted since 2003. The first edition of this exercise was conducted in May 2003 in India.

About Indra Navy 2018:

• Ten warships from both sides participated in the Indra Navy 2018 exercise,  which also included an Indian Navy submarine.
• The exercise included search, and seize drills, underway replenishment at sea drills, and anti-submarine warfare drills along with other components.
• The navies of India and Russia also conducted live-firings against aerial targets in the exercise.
• The Russian Navy’s Pacific Fleet flagship Varyag participated in Indra Navy 2018.  Admiral Panteleyev, which is an anti-submarine warfare ship, and Boris Butoma. which is a sea tanker, also were included by Russia in the exercise.
• INS Ranvir, INS Satpura, INS Kadmatt, IN Ships Kuthar and Khanjar and INS Jyoti participated from Indian side.
• The primary objective of Indra Navy exercise is to increase inter-operability amongst the navies of India and Russia and exchange best practices.

India and Russia are major defence partners and India is also a major importer of Russian defence equipments. Both the sides conduct regular exercises with each other. The last edition of  Indra Navy took place in 2016 in the Bay of Bengal. The main goal behind conducting of such bilateral military exercises is the strengthening of friendly relations between the armed forces of India and Russia.

Month: Current Affairs - December, 2018