New Delhi. 01 September 2021. Indian Army contingent of 200 personnel is in Russia to participate in Exercise ZAPAD 2021, a Multi Nation exercise being held at Nizhniy, Russia from 03 to 16 September 2021.
On August 20th, the deputy head of the Russian Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation announced that military contingents from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Serbia and Sri Lanka have been invited to participate in the ZAPAD-2021 exercises, which will be held in Russia. In addition, the armed forces of China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Pakistan and Uzbekistan will be represented by military observers. The exercises will address the issues arising from managing coalition troops during the restoration of state territorial integrity. The concept of the exercise does not imply any particular opponent.
In total, about 200k servicemen will participate in the exercises across Belarus and Russia, of which approximately 12,800 will be on Belarusian territory.
ZAPAD 2021 is one of the theatre level exercises of Russian Armed Forces and will focus primarily on operations against terrorists. Over a dozen countries from Eurasian and South Asian Region will participate in this signature event.
The NAGA Battalion group participating in the exercise will feature an all Arms combined task force. The exercise aims to enhance military and strategic ties amongst the participating nations while they plan & execute this exercise . The Indian Contingent has been put through a strenuous training schedule which encompasses all facets of conventional operations including mechanised, airborne & heliborne, counter terrorism, combat conditioning and firing.
