Exercise INDRA-21

Why in News

The 12th Edition of Indo-Russia joint military Exercise INDRA will be held at Volgograd, Russia in August 2021.

Key Points

• About Exercise INDRA:
  • The exercise will entail conduct of counter terror operations under the United Nations mandate by a joint force against international terror groups. 
  • The INDRA series of exercises began in 2003 and was conducted as a bilateral naval exercise alternately between the two countries. However, the first joint Tri-Services Exercise was conducted in 2017. 
  • The last joint, tri-services exercise between India and Russia was conducted in India in December 2019. It was held simultaneously at Babina (near Jhansi), Pune, and goa. 

Significance of Military Exercises:

• In the domain of international relations, military diplomacy has, in recent years, emerged as a major tool to further diplomatic interests of nations. 
• Participation in international level military exercises is an indication of the highest level of trust and confidence between the member nations. 
• On the operational side, military exercises enable militaries to understand each other’s drills and procedures, overcome language barriers, and facilitate familiarisation with equipment capabilities.
• This is particularly useful in the event of joint operations whether in war or in operations other than war (OOTW) like, humanitarian aid, disaster relief, anti-piracy, etc – when nations come together for a common cause. 
• Perhaps, the most important advantage of joint military exercises is ‘strategic signalling’.

• A joint exercise with one or more nations serves the purpose of signalling to a third country the influence we have in the region and a demonstration of our resolve to further our diplomatic objective. 
• On the intangible side, military exercises promote brotherhood and camaraderie between soldiers and militaries.
• Besides goodwill, it is a tool for projection of a nation’s soft power – culture, language, customs, beliefs, food habits and lifestyle.