NEW DELHI, India (CWBN)_ The Indian Navy (IN) confirmed on Friday (December 4) that they were undertaking a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) in the Eastern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) on December 4 and 5.
IN stated that the purpose of the exercise was to “enhancing interoperability, improving understanding and imbibing best practices between both the friendly navies, and would involve advanced surface and anti-submarine warfare exercises, weapon firings, seamanship exercises and helicopter operations”.
RuFN’s guided-missile cruiser “Varyag”, anti-submarine ship “AdmiralPanteleyev” and medium ocean tanker “Pechenga” will be part of the exercise, while IN’s guided-missile frigate “Shivalik”, anti-submarine corvette “Kadmatt” and integral helicopters will also take part.
IN also stated the exercise reflects the strong long-term strategic relationship between the two countries, particularly in defence cooperation in the maritime domain. This exercise was held to commemorate India’s “Navy Day”, which fell on December 4.
