India
oi-Madhuri Adnal
New Delhi, Aug 29: The Indian Army will not participate in multinational military exercise Kavkaz-2020 where Chinese and Pakistani troops are also going to be there.
The moves comes in the backdrop of an ongoing conflict with China in eastern Ladakh.
“A high-level meeting was held in South Block in which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat were present. After the meeting, it was discussed that it would not be right to take part in the multilateral exercise where Chinese and Pakistani military personnel would also be present,” defence sources told ANI here.
KavKaz 2020 military exercise will take place 15-26 September at Donguz training ranges in Russia’s Orenburg.
China, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Belarus, Turkey, Armenia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan are set to take part in Kavkaz 2020.
The Russian Embassy n India has tweeted that almost a month before the Kavkaz 2020 kicks off, “VI international military forum Army-2020 – first major defence expo this year – opened near Moscow. 1,500 companies, over 28,000 pieces of hardware and weaponry, 18 foreign delegations. Indian delegation is led by Raj Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production in India.
Secretary (Defence Production) Shri Raj Kumar and Ambassador inaugurated the India Pavilion at #Army2020 outside Moscow and visited other pavilions showcased at the exhibition, including #IndiaRussia #Brahmos JV pavilion.”