The Hindu : Front Page : Sailing in tandem: India-Russia exercises

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Wednesday, Oct 19, 2005

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Sailing in tandem: India-Russia exercises

G. Narasimha Rao

The common naval focus at INDRA 05 is on maritime threats and terrorism

— Photo: K.R. Deepak

BLUE POWER: From the India-Russia joint naval exercises off Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.

ON BOARD INS MUMBAI: The Indian and Russian navies are working together to develop their ability to counter maritime threats, notably those linked to terrorism. The Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta, told reporters on board this, the Western Naval Command's flagship, ahead of the joint India-Russia naval exercises, christened INDRA 05, that the main focus of the exercise was on anti-terrorist operations. The exercise, which started on Monday, will end on Wednesday.

He said: "Compared to the last exercise held in 2003, the scope has been enlarged and the stress is more on [the] tactical part rather than [on] using more weapons... Procedure is more important. More complicated exercises have been included.''

The Vice-Admiral said India can look forward to joint exercises with more countries. It has already conducted exercises with the navies of the U.S., the U.K., France and Malaysia.

The Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Navy, Sergey Viktorovich Avramenko, felt that such an exercise should be conducted annually: but it was for the Defence Ministers of both countries to decide. He said the Russian Navy was happy with the experience it gained from the exercise. It had been able to work well with the Indian Navy. "The exercise could be for a longer duration. We would love to do longer exercises," he said, and thanked the Eastern Naval Command for organising the programme.

The Flag Officer Commanding of the Eastern Fleet, Sanjeev Bhasin, said the Russian Navy had been offered the digital communication technology that would help the two navies to communicate better.

"We did not have problems with the U.S. and U.K.... navies during exercises since English is the language of communication, but there was a communication problem with the Russians. "

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