Russia and India have launched a three-day joint naval counterterrorism exercise in the Sea of Japan, the press service of Russia's Pacific Fleet said Tuesday, RIA Novosti reports.
INDRA-2007 is a biennial Russian-Indian exercise aimed at practicing cooperative engagement in the fight against terrorism. It is the third such exercise since 2003.
Russia is represented by two large anti-submarine ships, a missile boat, a diesel submarine, a group of mine-sweepers, a tanker, two tug boats, two Ka-27 Helix helicopters, and an Il-38 May maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft.
The Indian naval group comprises three missile destroyers, a missile corvette and a tanker.
The live-fire exercise will include air defense and anti-submarine warfare maneuvers. The naval groups will also rehearse operations to enforce the law of the sea and counter piracy, terrorism, and drug smuggling.
Military cooperation between the two nations goes back nearly 50 years, with India accounting for about 40% of Russian arms exports. Eighty percent of India's Armed Forces, the second- largest in the region, are equipped with Russian weaponry.