Indian, Russian Navy Chiefs Hold Talks to Deepen Maritime Security Ties

Russian Navy Chief Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev held talks with India's Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Tripathi and Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Armed Forces General Anil Chauhan in New Delhi on Monday.

"The visit aims to strengthen bilateral naval relations between India and Russia, as also to explore new avenues for naval cooperation," the Indian Defence Ministry (MoD) said.

"It is planned that during the business talks the parties will discuss the current state and prospects for the development of Russian-Indian cooperation in the naval field. In particular, the parties will discuss a number of issues related to the exchange of visits of ships and military delegations, the conduct of naval exercises and cooperation in the field of military education," the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The discussions will underscore “mutual commitment towards enhancing maritime security, deepening strategic cooperation and fostering a stronger defence partnership between both nations,” including “collaborative mechanisms and measures to further strengthen” bilateral navy cooperation, according to an Indian official readout.

Both nations cooperate on many fronts – operational interactions, training, hydrographic cooperation, and exchange of subject matter experts (SMEs) in various fields through the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission (IRIGC) on the Military & Military – Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) mechanism, the Indian statement noted.

"Indian Navy has also been interacting with Russian Federation Navy in various multilateral fora viz. IONS (Indian Ocean Naval Symposium), MILAN, IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association), WPNS (Western Pacific Naval Symposium) and ADMM-Plus (ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting-Plus)," the Indian MoD higlighted.

Moiseev, who was received in New Delhi with a ceremonial guard of honour at the South Block Lawns, during his visit, will also interact with other top Indian military brass, including the Defence Secretary and the National Maritime Security Coordinator.

Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev, Commander-in-Chief of Russian Federation Navy and General Anil Chauhan, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces

Russian Navy Chief to Visit Western Naval Command

Meanwhile, the Russian Navy Chief is scheduled to pay a call on the Commanding-in-Chief of India's Western Naval Command in Mumbai:

Moiseev will visit the indigenous warships and submarines, naval dockyards and India's state-owned shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited.

The Russian Navy Chief's visit comes against the backdrop of growing naval engagements of Moscow in Indo-Pacific, including in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), through its 'Pivot to Asia' and 'Greater Eurasian Partnership' strategic concepts.

In June, Russia approved the draft agreement of the mutual logistics pact with India, which would facilitate military-to-military exchanges, training, port calls and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) efforts.

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Russian Navy Chief to Visit Western Naval Command