The Hindu : Indo-Russian naval exercise from May 20

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 19, 2003

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Indo-Russian naval exercise from May 20

Moscow May 18. The first-ever joint Indo-Russian naval exercise will begin on May 20, the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, said today. Announcing the dates of the exercise, Mr. Ivanov, who is currently on a visit to Malaysia, said now everyone had understood that the manoeuvres had nothing to do with the Iraq war.

"We didn't start the manoeuvres in the Indian Ocean, we made a special pause to let the war in Iraq finish," he was quoted as saying in Kuala Lumpur today. Mr. Ivanov pointed out that the ships had left their base early last month.

Terming India as Russia's "old strategic partner", he said the ships from the Black Sea and Pacific Ocean Navy fleets would be divided into two fleets and carry out the manoeuvres with two fleets of the Indian Navy.

The Black Sea Navy Fleet would cooperate with the Indian West Fleet in the Arabian Sea, and the Pacific Ocean Navy Fleet will do the same with the East one in the Bay of Bengal, he added.

Stressing the importance of the programme, Mr. Ivanov said a fleet should undertake long cruises for combat readiness and the three-month tour for the Russian ships was "good". During the journey, the Russian ships had carried out separate exercises.A delegation of the Russian Navy led by Rear Admiral Vladimir Pepelyayev, has arrived in India to finalise details of the joint-exercise to be held in late May and early June.

UNI

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