Indian troops have participated within the Russian-led Zapad-2025 navy drills, Russian state company TASS stated on Tuesday, highlighting Moscow’s shut ties with New Delhi, whose rising ties with the USA have been strained by the imposition of hefty tariffs by President Donald Trump.
The Indian Ministry of Defence confirmed that it had despatched 65 armed forces personnel to take part within the five-day military exercise, a theatrical demonstration of firepower performed collectively by Russia and Belarus to check their fight readiness within the occasion of an invasion.
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The manoeuvres, which featured 100,000 troops in a show of would possibly that included nuclear-capable bombers and warships, befell at a time of heightened pressure with NATO nations, coming simply days after the downing of Russian drones in Poland final week.
“Right now we’re conducting the ultimate a part of the Zapad 2025 strategic train,” stated Putin, sporting a navy uniform.
India was not the one international energy concerned, with “job forces and navy contingents” from Iran, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Mali additionally becoming a member of in, TASS reported, citing the Kremlin.
However India’s participation, led by a battalion of the extremely revered Kumaon Regiment and aimed toward strengthening “the spirit of cooperation and mutual belief” with Russia, could have raised eyebrows amid indicators that the US could also be dropping a key ally in Asia, seen as an essential counterweight to China.
Strains emerged between the 2 nations final month after the Trump administration imposed 50 % tariffs on Indian imports, accusing New Delhi of fuelling Moscow’s lethal assaults on Ukraine with its purchases of Russian oil.
Earlier this month, Trump appeared to substantiate the rift, posting on social media that each India and Russia appeared to have been “misplaced” to “deepest, darkest China” because the three nations cozied up on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Tianjin.
India-US ties again on observe?
However final week, Trump introduced on X that India and the US are persevering with negotiations to deal with commerce obstacles between the 2 nations. He beforehand accused India of imposing excessive tariffs on US items.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to Trump’s submit on X, saying: “India and the US are shut associates and pure companions”.
“I’m assured that our commerce negotiations will pave the way in which for unlocking the limitless potential of the India-US partnership,” Modi added.
On Tuesday, Modi thanked Trump for wishing him a contented seventy fifth birthday.
“Thanks, my buddy, President Trump, in your telephone name and heat greetings on my seventy fifth birthday. Such as you, I’m additionally totally dedicated to taking the India-US Complete and International Partnership to new heights,” he posted on X.
This isn’t the primary time that India has participated in Russian navy workouts. In 2021, shortly earlier than Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, New Delhi stated it despatched an unspecified variety of troops to Russia’s Volgograd area to hitch actions linked to “Counter Terrorism and Standard operations”.
India’s ties with Russia return to the erstwhile USSR, which offered intensive assist to the Indian financial system. All through the Chilly Conflict, India selected to stay non-aligned, but it surely sourced most of its weapons from the Soviet Union.
New Delhi nonetheless buys most of its defence tools from Moscow, however over the previous 20 years, it has tried to diversify its weapons imports.
Iran-Russia proceed strategic alignment
Iran additionally participated on this yr’s Zapad, in keeping with the TASS, although the presence of its troops was not confirmed by official channels.
Tehran is thought to be an in depth strategic accomplice of Russia, supplying it with self-detonating Shahed drones used within the Ukraine battle and, in keeping with Western intelligence sources, ballistic missiles.
This yr, the 2 nations signed a “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty”, deepening their relationship on navy and different fronts.
Tehran and Moscow launched a joint navy drill within the Caspian Sea after Israel launched bombings of Iran, resulting in 12 days of war. The US additionally joined the battle after focusing on an Iranian nuclear web site with bunker buster bombs.
On Tuesday, the US confirmed that its navy officers noticed the navy drills yesterday after accepting an invite to the occasion.
The US presence on the sidelines comes because it tries to wrestle Russia into bringing its battle in Ukraine to an finish, whereas searching for nearer ties with Belarus.
