Context: 

India hosted the 14^th edition of the bilateral naval exercise INDRA-2025 between India and Russia. 

INDRA 2025 

The exercise included a wide range of activities and structured drills designed to enhance interoperability towards countering common maritime threats.

The exercise was conducted in 2 phases from 28 March to 2 April 2025:  

Harbour Phase in Chennai, featuring sophisticated maritime drills and live weapon firings.

• The phase also included the Opening Ceremony followed by Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEEs), reciprocal ship visits, sports fixtures etc.

Sea Phase of the exercise was held in the Bay of Bengal, witnessed advanced naval drills, including tactical manoeuvres, live weapon firings, anti-air operations, underway replenishment, helicopter cross-deck landings and exchange of sea-riders. 

Russian ships Pechanga, Rezkiy, and Aldar Tsydenzhapov participated in the exercise alongside Indian warships Rana, Kuthar and maritime patrol aircraft P8l.

Exercise INDRA 

• This bilateral naval exercise was first conducted in 2003. 
• The exercise underscores the longstanding partnership between India and Russia in maritime security. 
• The exercise enhances the need for a collaborative approach to counter common threats and concerns. 

 Key exercise between Indian and Russia

• INDRA NAVY (sea): This is the naval exercise within the INDRA series. 
• INDRA (land): This is the army exercise within the INDRA series. 
• AVIA INDRA exercise: A biennial Air Force level exercise between the Indian Air Force (IAF) and the Russian Federation Aerospace Force (RFASF). 
• Tri-Service Exercise: The INDRA series also includes joint tri-service exercises.

India and Russia Defence Cooperation:

• Defence cooperation is an important pillar of the India-Russia relationship, which was upgraded from a Strategic Partnership to a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership in 2010.
• To oversee the complete range of issues of military technical cooperation, an institutionalised structure is done under India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Military & Military Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-MTC), headed by the Defence Ministers of the two countries.
• The Working Group is a crucial forum for India-Russia defence cooperation and provides a platform to assess existing military engagements and identify new areas for collaboration.
• Russia is also among a select group of countries with which India has a 2+2 Dialogue attended by foreign ministers and defence ministers from both sides.