MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. The sea phase of the bilateral Russian-Indian maritime exercise Indra Navy-2018, which involves Russia’s Pacific Fleet ships, starts in the Bay of Bengal today near the Indian port of Visakhapatnam, the Pacific Fleet press service reported on Thursday.
"The Pacific Fleet’s flagship, the Order of Nakhimov Guards missile cruiser Varyag; the large-antisubmarine ship Admiral Panteleyev; and the large sea tanker Boris Butoma left Visakhapatnam, where they arrived on December 9, and set off for the area of the exercise," the fleet said.
The Indian Navy was represented by the Ranvir guided missile destroyer, the Kadmatt, Kuthar and Khanjar corvettes and the Jyoti tanker.
More than 10 naval ships and support vessels from both countries, planes and helicopters of the Indian Navy and a helicopter from the Admiral Panteleyev will take part in the exercise.
According to the scenario, the training of flights of shipborne helicopters over sea will start on Thursday. "During the flight operations the Russian ships will take the Indian Navy helicopters on board," the Pacific Fleet noted. Refuelling and replenishment under way from tankers and joint tactical night maneuvering will also be trained.
The main theme of the Indra Navy-2018 exercise is naval cooperation between the two countries to protect navigation and economic activity at sea.