By IANS
Moscow : Over 160 paratroopers from the Indian Army arrived in Russia’s Pskov region Tuesday to take part in a joint anti-terrorism exercise with Russia.
Codenamed Indra-2007, this will be the second in a series of joint drills that began in the deserts of Rajasthan in October 2005.
“The paratroopers are currently clearing customs and unloading the cargo plane,” a spokesman for the Russian airborne troops said.
With counter-terrorism as the theme of the 10-day drill Sep 11-20, the special airborne forces of the two countries would simulate “joint planning and conducting air and ground manoeuvres to neutralize, under a UN mandate, a concentration of international terrorists in a third country”, an Indian defence ministry release said Monday in New Delhi.
The manoeuvres will be conducted under the aegis of Russian 76 Airborne Division and involve a plethora of state-of-art battle equipment as well as a large number of fixed and rotary wing aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“The manoeuvres will be conducted in three phases, culminating in a realistic simulated joint operational exercise involving surveillance, acquiring and assessing of intelligence,” the release said.
The exercise will be under the overall control of Lt. Gen. N.I. Ignatov, commanding general of the Russian 76 Airborne Division and be witnessed by the Indian Army chief, Gen. J.J. Singh.