India, China to send troops to Russia for military exercise

India is likely to take part in the multinational military exercise 'Vostok 2022' in Russia, which will also be attended by China. This will be the first such large-scale joint military exercise being conducted in Russia since the conflict with Ukraine started in February this year.

Sources said the army will send a delegation for the exercise after an invitation was received from Moscow. An official statement on the participation is likely to be issued at a later date. China has already announced its participation in the event.

Reacting to the exercise, the US has said that India has historical ties with Russia and that it is going to be a long-term proposition for India to reorient its foreign policy away from Russia.


"Reorienting a country's foreign policy or a country's security establishment or defence procurement practices away from a country like Russia is not something that we can do overnight. It's not something that we can do over the course of weeks or even months. We do see this as a long-term challenge," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said at a press conference in response to a question on Wednesday on India's participation.

Price was responding to a series of questions on Vostok.

"This is something that especially for countries that have historical relationships with Russia, relationships that, as is the case with India, extend back decades, it is going to be a long-term proposition to reorient foreign policy away from Russia," added Price.

With regards to US-India ties, he said the US has worked "very closely" with India bilaterally and through the Quad "to signal, and the Indians have done so very clearly, what should be the inviolable principle of state sovereignty".

"It is not for me to speak about another country's foreign policy. But what I can do is point out what we have heard from India. We have seen countries around the world speak clearly, including with their votes in the UN General Assembly against Russia's aggression in Ukraine. But we also recognise, as I was saying just a moment ago, that this is not flipping a light switch," Price told reporters.