India, China troops to take part in Russia war games in Vostok

Indian and Chinese troops are set to take part in military exercises in Russia later this month.

Vostok-2022:

• The Vostok-2022 strategic command and staff exercise will be held under the command of the chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, at 13 training grounds of the Eastern Military District.
• Participants: India, China, Belarus, Tajikistan, Mongolia and other countries will also participate in the drills.
• It aims to deepen pragmatic and friendly cooperation with the militaries of participating countries, enhance the level of strategic coordination of all participating parties, and enhance the ability to deal with various security threats.
• The drills are unrelated to the current international and regional situation.
• Last such Vostok exercise took place in 2018, when China took part for the first time.

Russia’s Military Exercises:

• VOSTOK (meaning ‘East’) is part of a system of strategic exercises that the Russian Armed Forces have been developing since 2009.
• It is one of the four named annual strategic exercises conducted on a rotating basis among four of Russia’s five military districts.
• The scheduled strategic exercises (ZAPAD, VOSTOK, TSENTR, KAVKAZ) are the capstone event of the Russian Armed Forces’ annual training cycle.
• Last year, India attended Exercise ZAPAD 2021 drills in Russia in which 17 countries including China and Pakistan took part.