- MOSCOW -- India and Russia
will hold joint anti-terror exercise 'Indra 2005' in mid-October in the
Indian Ocean, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said.
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- He said the joint military exercises, involving Indian
and Russian warships and airborne troops will be held at the training ground
Mahajan in Rajasthan.
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- ''Last week, a large squadron of five warships and one
nuclear submarine of the Russian Pacific Fleet, sailed to the Indian Ocean,
where the joint exercises with the Indian armed forces and fleet are planned
in the mid-October,'' Itar-Tass news agency quoted Mr Ivanov as saying.
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- He said, he was planning to personally observe the joint
naval exercises in the Indian Ocean.
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- The minister said that airborne troops will be flown
there later to take part in the exercise with Indian paratroopers.
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- According to the plan, the air-ground phase of the exercises
will involve a company of the Russia's 76th Airborne Division and a company
of the Indian 50th Airborne Brigade. They are expected to land from the
air and destroy a ''token base of terrorists'' on the territory of one
of the states.
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- Earlier, Russian Air Force Commander Col-General Alexander
Kolmakov said the anti-terrorist exercises would have airborne and naval
component.
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- ''According to the scenario, Indian and Russian paratroopers
will land in the mountain terrain of Rajasthan to destroy bands spotted
there, while naval forces will fulfill tasks of combating pirates in the
ocean basin adjacent to the Indian coast'' he said.
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- The Russian company will operate within an Indian airborne
battalion and report to its commander.
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- Mr Kolmkov said that the reciprocal Russian-Indian exercises
would be held in Russia in 2006.
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