Affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, military exercises in many countries around the world have been postponed to the second half of the year. Over the past few months, the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions have been in turmoil, with numerous countries organizing military exercises. In particular, the US-led NATO, whose member states rushed to conduct joint military exercises with the United States, has only recently gradually decreased in frequency.
However, India can no longer stand still. From November 17 to 20, India cooperated with Australia, Japan and the United States to hold large-scale joint military exercises, according to the US Defense website. A large number of warships gathered, forming a magnificent scene in the Indian Ocean. The exercise went smoothly, and what was particularly striking was that India's INS Vikramaditya was the first time to fight alongside the USS Nimitz, and the two-carrier exercise was progressing well. To show its importance, the United States also sent the cruisers USS Princeton and USS Sreet to participate in the exercise. The Indian media rejoiced because they thought it was something to be proud of being able to fight alongside the world's most powerful aircraft carrier.
From the actual situation, although the Ford-class aircraft carrier of the United States has not yet fully achieved combat effectiveness, the actual combat performance of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is irreplaceable. India's INS Vikramaditya was originally part of Russia's Kiev-class aircraft carriers. In 2004, India purchased and modified from Russia and delivered to the Indian Navy on November 16, 2013.
The relationship between the United States and India is complex and diverse. India's autonomous weapons manufacturing capacity is relatively insufficient, and it needs to import a large number of US-made weapons and equipment to maintain military strength. At the same time, the United States makes huge profits from these arms deals. From the perspective of economic interests, India is one of the main customers of the United States. However, India lags far behind the influence and overall strength of the United States in global affairs. As a result, we often see India trying to get closer to the United States on various occasions. Moreover, despite remaining close to the United States, India does not forget to show friendship in front of Russia. As mentioned earlier, the INS Vikramaditya is from Russia, and one of India's main fighters, the Su-30MKI, is also tailor-made by Russia. And there are many unsolvable contradictions between Russia and the United States. On the whole, the US-India relationship is complex, involving multiple interests, and is intertwined. Military cooperation and exercises in this real-world context echo these complex relationships.