The opening ceremony for the tenth "Indo-Russian Joint Exercise "INDRA 18" was held on Monday at the Babina Military Station in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Contingents of both India and Russia came together for the opening ceremony which was held in presence of a number of senior officers from both sides.

There was a fly past of "Army Aviation" helicopters which carried the national flags of both the participating nations during the parade, said an official statement.

The members of both the participating nations also interacted and familiarised with each other after the opening ceremony.

The aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct to enhance interoperability of the two armies in the peace keeping and enforcement environment under the aegis of United Nations, said the official statement

The 11-day exercise focuses upon training on enhancing team building and tactical level operations in a counter insurgency environment in semi urban terrain, added the statement.

The joint military exercise focuses upon training on enhancing team building, special tactical level operations such as cordon and search, house intervention, handling and neutralisation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and integrated employment of force multipliers.

The primary focus of the tactical field exercise is to share best practices among the militaries and hone existing skills of the troops in the backdrop of interoperability between the two armies in the peace keeping or enforcement environment.