Posted on 05/11/2002 10:32:33 AM PDT by Dog Gone
NEW DELHI, May 11, 2002 -- In their first-ever wargames, special forces from India and the United States began two-week long exercises on Saturday in India's ancient city of Agra, 200 kilometers southeast of here.
The exercises would involve up to 200 special operations forces from the U.S. Pacific Command and contingents of Indian para- commandoes, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported from Agra.
Terming the wargames as largest army exercise to take place between the U.S. and India, a U.S. embassy spokesman said in New Delhi that the special troops would carry out joint-para jumps as well as small-arms fire.
The exercises, he said, was being conducted as part of the current military cooperation and that this would be the first of a regular series of wargames between the two armed forces.
The U.S. and Indian forces conducted their first joint military maneuvers in 1963.
Sources in the defense ministry here said the wargames showed the state of military cooperation which had suffered a set back following India's nuclear tests in May 1998.
About 200 U.S. troops from Special Operations Forces, representing the elite Delta force, rangers, marine and naval seals, arrived in India on Thursday.
The exercises would include parajumping, training on each others weapons and joint hit and run anti-terrorist raids, defense ministry officials said.
The exercises are coinciding with the on-going exercises between the two countries in Alaska, which involved specialized mountain warfare troops.
In the long run, we want to be allies with both of those nuclear powers, and maybe even be seen by both as an honest broker for their differences someday.
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