Overview

• India’s Ministry of Defence confirmed a 65-member contingent took part in the five-day Zapad-2025 exercise held September 12–16 in Russia and Belarus.
• Russian officials said around 100,000 personnel participated, with nuclear-capable bombers, warships and extensive hardware featured across dozens of training sites.
• Indian experts defended the move as non-directed training to build interoperability, citing long-standing defence ties with Moscow and India’s independent decision-making.
• Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the drills’ final phase and organisers described scenarios that included repelling air strikes and planning the use of nuclear weapons and hypersonic systems.
• Foreign contingents from countries including Iran and Bangladesh joined, and the United States confirmed its military officials attended as observers, as some Western commentators criticised India’s presence against the backdrop of recent US–India trade tensions.