India Showcases Land Warfare Expertise At Zapad 2025, Balancing Ties With Russia And The West

India’s armed forces have taken part in the Russian-led Zapad 2025 joint military exercises in Belarus, sending a 65-member contingent to participate in what are among the largest drills Moscow and Minsk have staged since the Ukraine invasion in 2022. The multi-domain exercises, including controversial nuclear launch simulations, have unsettled NATO members already on alert amid heightened tensions on Europe’s eastern flank.

For Delhi, however, Zapad 2025 was less about nuclear posturing and more about demonstrating hard-earned expertise in land warfare. With operational scenarios that tested tactical manoeuvres, rapid mechanized movements, and defensive strategies against an adversary using overwhelming firepower, the Indian contingent seized the opportunity to underline its battlefield proficiency in conventional ground combat—an area where the Indian Army has decades of operational experience, from high-altitude operations along the Line of Actual Control to counterinsurgency efforts closer home.

Strengthening Ties with Russia

Strategically, India’s presence at Zapad strengthens its long-standing operational and defence ties with Russia, even as it works toward indigenization under its Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative. Nearly 60–70% of India’s military hardware remains of Russian origin. Participation in Russian-run drills ensures Indian soldiers remain proficient in operating and integrating these systems in live battlefield environments.

Military analysts note that, beyond the optics, Zapad offered India’s armed forces realistic exposure to joint operational drills alongside Russian troops—a reminder of enduring interoperability between the two militaries built over decades of engagement through the Cold War and the post-Soviet era.

A Test for Strategic Balancing

India’s presence at these exercises comes as relations with the United States and the European Union face turbulence over trade tariffs, oil imports from Russia, and broader disagreements on the ‘rules-based international order.’ Brussels’ foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas reflected European unease when she said cooperation with India must go beyond trade and include alignment on security principles, adding that exercises and oil purchases remain “obstacles.”

The concern is also rooted in history. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine came immediately after similar war games in Belarus. For NATO members like Poland, which has twice intercepted armed Russian drones in its skies this year, Zapad 2025 is viewed as a potential harbinger of fresh escalation. Against this backdrop, India’s decision to display military readiness alongside Russian units inevitably raised eyebrows in Western capitals.

Land Warfare on Display

For Delhi, however, participation is a calculated signal of strategic autonomy. By placing troops on European soil in a drill led by Russia, India showcased not only its battlefield expertise but also its refusal to be boxed into exclusive partnerships. Indian commanders stressed tactical mobility, armoured manoeuvre warfare, and infantry-artillery coordination during the exercises—capabilities honed through long-standing land border challenges.

Observers note that the Indian Army has few peers when it comes to high-pressure adaptive warfare, a legacy of operating across some of the most diverse battlefronts in the world. Zapad 2025, therefore, provided New Delhi with a stage to display competence in high-intensity conventional combat beyond South Asia, reminding allies and adversaries alike that India remains a capable land warfare power in the global arena.

Navigating Tensions with the US

Washington, which sent observers to Belarus to monitor the games, has reacted cautiously. President Donald Trump, who recently resumed outreach to Prime Minister Modi amid protracted trade tensions, has not publicly commented on India’s participation. Yet officials in Washington privately acknowledge discomfort, especially as Russia and China tighten their strategic grip through BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation—blocs where India also participates.

The timing is sensitive: India recently marked Modi’s visit to China for the SCO summit with a widely publicized image alongside Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, a picture that some Western media outlets termed “chilling.” By joining Zapad this week, New Delhi has again signalled it will not allow Western unease—be it over oil purchases or military engagements—to dictate its choices.

Strategic Autonomy in Action

Ultimately, India’s Zapad 2025 participation encapsulates its evolving foreign policy doctrine: partnerships with all, subservience to none. Land warfare experience provided the visible narrative on the battlefield, but the subtext was carefully geopolitical. New Delhi emphasized its capacity to operate with multiple interlocutors while retaining independence on critical strategic decisions.

In an international climate shaped by wars in Ukraine and West Asia, volatile energy markets, and shifting alliances, such balancing acts carry increasing weight. For India, showcasing not just military prowess but also the political will to assert strategic autonomy may be the most enduring message from Zapad 2025.

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