After the successful commissioning of the dream carrier INS Vikramaditya into the Indian Navy, India and Russia agreed to boost strategic cooperation by holding the first ever joint air forces exercise next year.
The decision was taken on Monday during the 13th Meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC), which was co- chaired by the Defense Minister AK Antony with his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoigu in Moscow.
On Saturday last week, India commissioned the largest single military platform, the INS Vikramaditya, in Russia; the 44,500 ton warship was bought for $2.33 billion.
During the meeting, Shoigu assured India that the naval aviation specialists will train Indian pilots for take-off and landing on INS Vikramaditya in drills likely to be held in Goa.
According to a release by the Ministry of Defense, the two ministers agreed that “there is a need for further cooperation at all levels, especially in view of the regional and global challenges and to fight the menace of terrorism jointly.”
The two countries will also a joint navy exercise in Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan, [also known as the East Sea] both in 2014. The two armies had held “Exercise Indra” in Rajasthan last month; the drill was focused on anti-terrorism.
