The official opening ceremony of the Indra-2019 Russian-Indian joint exercise took place on the Babina training ground located in the state of Uttar Pradesh (India). Military parades of servicemen of the two countries in honor of the start of the exercise were also held in the port of Mormugao and at the Indian Air Force base in the city of Pune.
The main opening ceremony began with a military parade of servicemen of the two countries, after which the commander of the Eastern MD combined arms formation, Major General Oleg Tsekov and Chief of Staff of the Southern Command of the Indian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Dapinder Singh Ahuja toured the formation of servicemen and greeted them.
The national anthems of the Russian Federation and the Republic of India were performed by the military bands of the formations, the national flags of the two countries and the flag of the Indra-2019 exercise were raised. For the participants of the solemn ceremony, performances in the air were held by the crews of helicopters belonging to the aerobatic demonstration team of the Indian Air Force, as well as paratroopers.
The opening ceremony of the exercise ended with the joint parade of Russian and Indian servicemen on the parade ground of the field camp. In addition, in front of the grandstand, military hardware passed, which will be involved in the exercise.
In the Indra-2019 exercise, which will be held on the training grounds of three Indian states, the Russian Federation is represented by more than 700 servicemen. Among them, there are units of the Eastern MD combined arms army, military pilots and technicians of the Eastern MD air force and air defence, as well as crews of the Baltic Fleet warships.
Russian military personnel will perform tasks on tanks, armored personnel carriers and aircraft, which were provided by the host country for the period of the exercise. The Indra-2019 Russian-Indian joint exercise will be held 11-21 December.
