Indian forces participate in Russian military exercise despite U.S. concerns

• Indian soldiers in Russia for week-long military exercise.
• Moscow announced in July that it would hold the “Vostok” (East) exercise in the country’s east.
• Previous Vostok drills in 2018 were massive in scale, with nearly 300,000 troops involved.

Soldiers from the Indian army have arrived in Russia for a week-long military exercise, the Indian defence ministry announced on Thursday, just days after the US said it was concerned about any country exercising with Russia right now.

The Indian government stated that its forces, along with a number of other countries, have regularly participated in multilateral exercises in Russia. Russia is India’s largest supplier of military hardware.

An Indian Army contingent “arrived at the exercise location and will undertake joint manoeuvres over the next seven days, including joint field training exercises, combat discussions, and firepower exercises,” the Indian defence ministry said in a statement.

Despite a six-month war in Ukraine, where it has suffered heavy losses of personnel and equipment, Moscow announced in late July that it would hold the “Vostok” (East) exercise in the country’s east. The other countries involved are China, Belarus, Mongolia, and Tajikistan.

The US, which has deepened its military partnership with India in recent years, has expressed concern about Indian troops participating in the exercise in Russia.

“The United States has concerns about any country exercising with Russia while Russia wages a unprovoked, brutal war against Ukraine,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

“But, of course, every participating country will make its own decisions.”

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Previous Vostok drills in 2018 were massive in scale, with nearly 300,000 troops reported to be involved, including for the first time the Chinese army.

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