New Delhi: A six-member Russian Navy delegation led by Captain 1st Rank Sergei V Saitov visited India’s Southern Naval Command and the Indian Naval Academy in Kerala from September 27 to October 1, the Indian Navy said on October 3, as the two sides explored ways to deepen maritime cooperation and strengthen professional naval linkages.
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During the visit, the delegation familiarised itself with the Indian Navy’s training architecture, infrastructure and training facilities. Discussions focused on enhancing interoperability and consolidating institutional and professional ties between the two navies.
The engagement adds to the longstanding India-Russia naval relationship, which includes operational interactions, training, hydrographic cooperation and exchanges of subject-matter experts. The two navies also interact through multilateral mechanisms including the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, MILAN, IORA, Western Pacific Naval Symposium and ADMM-Plus.
The latest naval engagement comes amid renewed high-level military and diplomatic interaction between New Delhi and Moscow. Indian Army Chief General Dhiraj Seth visited Russia last month, holding talks with senior Russian military leaders on joint capability development, training exchanges and expanding Army-to-Army cooperation. Separately, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently reaffirmed the two countries’ commitment to their “special and privileged” strategic partnership.
For the naval relationship, the emphasis on training and interoperability provides a channel for maintaining operational familiarity between the two forces while the broader India-Russia defence partnership evolves toward continued cooperation in capability development, technology and institutional engagement.
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