NEW DELHI: India on Saturday withdrew from a multilateral military exercise — Kavkaz-2020 — that was scheduled to be held in southern Russia next month as it did not want to perform drills with Pakistani and Chinese soldiers, Indian media reported.
The decision was taken after a high-level military and diplomatic meeting, sources in the defence and security establishment said.
The exercise is to be held in the Astrakhan province of southern Russia between 15 and 27 September, and other participants include Pakistan, among other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an intergovernmental organisation comprising eight Asian nations.
India had planned to send 200 military personnel, including 180 soldiers from an infantry battalion and observers from the IAF and the Navy, to take part in the exercise, also known as Caucasus-20.
Sources in the Indian defence and security establishment said the COVID-19 pandemic and the prospect of doing military drills with Chinese and Pakistani soldiers in the multilateral exercise proved “the tilting point” in India’s decision to withdraw.