Russia said on Thursday that its upcoming mega military exercise with India has nothing to do with the Dokalam standoff between New Delhi and Beijing.
"The Russian Federation does not hold any military exercises or any other events under cooperation projects in connection with aggravated relations between any countries with which we maintain diverse and multifaceted relations," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in Moscow.
Reacting to reports in western media linking the upcoming exercise in October to the Dokalam standoff between India and China, Zakharova said such linkage is simply inappropriate.
The spokesperson expressed confidence that New Delhi and Beijing will be able to find mutually acceptable ways to quickly defuse the tension.
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"We maintain wonderful relations with China, and we are expanding relations with all regional countries. To my mind, these statements and attempts to distort the situation can be perceived as a provocation to some extent.
"If necessary, we provide the relevant information, so as to cut off all speculation on such issues as quickly as possible.
"I would also like to note that Russian-Indian military ties are an important element of the especially privileged strategic partnership between our countries," the spokesperson said.
India and Russia will hold a mega war game in October involving their armies, navies and the air forces for the first time to further ramp up military ties.
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The exercise Indra, which will be held in Russia from October 19 to 29, will primarily focus on achieving coordination between forces of the two countries in a tri- services integrated theatre command scenario.
"We have been holding annual bilateral military exercises since 2005, and naval exercises have been taking place since 2007.
"We consider it necessary to underscore that this is a routine annual event. We consider it absolutely incorrect to perceive it in the context of the current situation in Indian-Chinese relations," Zakharova said.
