The first-ever Tri Services Joint Exercise between Indian and Russian Armed Forces, INDRA-2017 began on Thursday near Vladivostok in Russia. <br/><br/>Two indigenously built Indian Naval ships INS Satpura and INS Kadmatt reached Vladivostok Port yesterday and were given a traditional ceremonial welcome. <br/><br/>The Indian contingent for the Exercise is led by the Task Force Commander Major General ND Prasad. <br/><br/>The Exercise INDRA in its previous nine editions has been conducted as a single service exercise alternately between the two countries. <br/><br/>This year the Exercise has been upgraded to involve all the three Services Army, Navy and Air Force. <br/><br/>It further accentuates the importance of Joint Services in the present world environment. <br/><br/>The Exercise INDRA will be conducted from today at the 249th Combined Army Range Sergeevisky and in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok. <br/><br/>The Indian contingent comprises of 350 personnel from Army, 80 from Air Force, two IL 76 aircraft and one Frigate and Corvette each from the Navy. <br/><br/>The Russian Federation Armed Forces will be represented by approximately 1000 troops of the 5th Army, Marines and Ships of Pacific Fleet and aircraft from Eastern Military District. <br/><br/>Exercise INDRA-2017 will be a landmark event in the history of Indo-Russian defence co-operation and will strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces. <br/><br/>India and Russia have had longstanding military and diplomatic ties and to preserve these bonds of cooperation, India and Russia undertake the annual military exercise INDRA. <br/><br/>This milestone in military cooperation of the two nations epitomizes their strong and resilient relations. <br/><br/>The joint tri-service exercise will be a demonstration of the increasing commitment of both nations to address common challenges across the full spectrum of operations.