National
India, U.S. to resume naval exercises
By Sandeep Dikshit
NEW DELHI, DEC. 8. India and the United States will resume their Pokhran-interrupted military-to-military cooperation next week with joint naval exercises in the Arabian Sea.
Planning for the complex ``search and rescue'' exercises began about four months ago but the formal clearance was given only after the successful completion of the joint Defence Policy Group (DPG) talks held here last week.
The DPG is the apex body to chisel and harmonise defence cooperation between the two countries. It is led by senior civilian officials in the defence headquarters.
The joint exercises will be followed by a meeting of the Indo-U.S. military steering group of the three services which will chart out the holding of bigger joint inter-services exercises on land and sea. The meeting of the steering group attended by senior military officers of both countries invariably succeeds the DPG. It defines the broad interaction agreed upon by civilian officials of the DPG. Sources said the three-day joint exercise beginning December 15 will involve two Indian naval warships, a coast guard and an American naval aircraft. Smaller navies from several neighbouring countries including Sri Lanka, Maldives and Mauritius will be in attendance.
The exercises are likely to be supervised from the giant aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, currently docked in Mumbai after taking part in the U.S.-led operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. With the military operations in Afghanistan virtually over, more U.S. naval warships are expected to join the exercises.
The last U.S. aircraft carrier in the vicinity was the USS Enterprise which had positioned itself in the Bay of Bengal three decades ago during the liberation movement in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan).
Analysts view the joint exercises as a new attempt by both countries to build a substantive military partnership in Asia and the Indian Ocean region.
The DPG also visualises transfer of military equipment and technology from the U.S. including GE 404 engines and flight control systems for the much-delayed light combat aircraft, spares for the Navy's grounded Sea King helicopters and Sea Harrier jets and gun-locating radars.
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