India recently announced its withdrawal from the International Military Exercise to be held in Russia. The exercise is to be held between September 15, 2020 and September 26, 2020.
Highlights
The Kavkaz exercise if to be held in Astrakhan, a southern province in Russia. The member countries if Shanghai Cooperation Organization and Central Asian countries are to participate in the exercise. Around 20 countries are expected to participate in the exercise.
The exercise is also called as the War Games or the Caucasus. The Caucasus or Caucasia is a region between Caspian Sea and the Black sea. It is mainly occupied by Azerbaijan, Armenia, south western Russia and Georgia.
In June 2020, India participated in the victory Day parade that was held in Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of World War II.
Why the sudden withdrawal?
Earlier, India had agreed to participate in the exercise. However, India has now withdrawn its contingent to the exercise due to COVID-19 reasons. However, experts believe that Chinese participation in the exercise is the major reason.
SCO
The SCO is seen as a counter weight to the NATO. The SCO has now emerged as one of the largest transregional organization that accounts to 44% of the world population stretching from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic sea and from the Arctic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
NATO is North Atlantic Treaty that consists of 30 member states from North America and Europe.
Exercises between India and Russia
The INDRA Naval Exercise is being conducted between India and Russia since 2003. It boosts cooperation between the navies of the countries.
Aviaindra Air Force Exercise is being conducted since 2014. The TSENTR is a multi-lateral exercise that forms a part of annual training cycle of the Russian Armed Forces.