India rejected the EU criticism of its participation in the Zapad-2025 multilateral military exercise held in Russia’s Nizhniy Novgorod.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) clarified on Friday that several countries, including NATO members such as the United States, Turkey, and Hungary, also joined the exercise as observers.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, during a weekly briefing in New Delhi, stressed that the Ministry of Defence had already shared details of India’s participation.
“I would also like to point out that several other countries, including NATO members like the United States, Turkey, and Hungary, have also participated in this exercise as observers,” Jaiswal said.
European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas had criticised India’s involvement in the drills, claiming that both the exercise and India’s purchase of Russian oil posed hurdles in India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) talks.
Kallas stated, “If you want closer ties with us, then why participate in exercises that are existential threats to us? We are not taking this lightly.”
Russia dismissed Western concerns as ‘baseless’.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the Zapad-2025 exercises were ‘exclusively defensive’ and aimed at repelling aggression. She added that NATO observers’ presence should help counter Western myths about the drills’ aggressive intent.
On September 9, India sent a 65-member contingent to Nizhniy for the drills. The team included 57 Indian Army personnel, seven from the Indian Air Force, and one from the Navy.
The Kumaon Regiment led the Army contingent with support from other arms and services.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the multilateral exercise sought to enhance military cooperation, strengthen interoperability, and provide a platform for exchanging tactics and procedures in conventional warfare and counter-terrorism.
The drills focused on joint company-level operations in open terrain, including planning, tactical drills, and specialised combat skills. The exercise also allowed participating forces to test emerging technologies and hone multinational operational capabilities.
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