Pacific Fleet corvettes "Sharp" and "Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov" will take part in the maneuvers
CHENNAI /INDIA/, March 26. /tass/. Two corvettes of the Russian Pacific Fleet (Pacific Fleet) - "Sharp" and "Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov", as well as the support vessel "Pechenga" entered the port of the Indian city of Chennai. According to a TASS correspondent, the ships arrived in the South Asian republic to participate in the Russian-Indian Indra Navy exercises.
The Russian detachment of ships is commanded by Captain Alexei Antsiferov, first rank. On the shore, the guests from the Russian Federation were greeted by officers of the Indian Navy.
The base of the upcoming maneuvers was the southern Indian city of Chennai, where the command of the Tamil Nadu Naval Region is located. The exercises will be held in two phases. The first one will take place on the shore. Meetings are planned to work out the interaction of the ships of the two countries, as well as official visits, meetings, sports competitions, excursions and cultural events. During the second phase, which will begin next week, the ships will set sail and conduct three-day maneuvers in the Bay of Bengal.
On the Indian side, the Rana destroyer, a 61-ME project ship built in 1970-1980 in the USSR by order of the Indian government and handed over to India in 1982, as well as the Kuthar corvette, designed by Indian naval engineers and built in Mumbai, are taking part in the exercises.
Indra exercises have been conducted regularly between India and Russia for more than 20 years. They are aimed at improving interoperability and strengthening military cooperation. In recent years, the land and naval forces have been participating in the maneuvers alternately.
History of the exercises
The first Russian-Indian naval exercises took place in May 2003 near the west coast of India. In October 2005, ground forces conducted exercises at the Mahajan training ground in the Thar desert of the western state of Rajasthan. Then similar exercises took place in September 2007 at the base of the 76th Guards Airborne Division in Pskov.
In January 2009, Russia and India conducted naval exercises in the eastern Arabian Sea. In October 2010, the Indian state of Uttarakhand hosted the Indra series of bilateral ground forces exercises.
In 2011, a detachment of Indian ships entered the port of Vladivostok to participate in the joint naval exercises Indra-2011, which were canceled on the initiative of the Russian side due to the earthquake in Japan and the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. A year later, ground forces exercises were held in Russia, and a naval phase was held in India.
From 2014 to 2021, Indra exercises of different branches of the armed forces were organized every year. The joint Indian-Russian interspecific exercises of the three branches of the armed forces in Kaliningrad, scheduled for September 2022, have been postponed. In 2024, they were held in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.
The name "Indra" was given to the exercises by two countries - India and Russia. In addition, Indra is the name of an ancient Indian god. In Vedic mythology, it symbolizes power and invincibility. In India, it is considered that such a name indicates the great importance that the parties attach to the organization of joint maneuvers.
