American-Indian forces hold joint war games in Rajasthan

By Prakash Bhandari/SATimes

Jaipur: Indian and the US armies are taking part in joint war games in the Thar desert of Rajasthan. The two-week long event titled “Yudh Abhyas 2011-12 at Mahajan firing range near Pakistan border is aimed for the Indian forces to hone their tactical and technical skills.

For the 200 US troops it will be a taste once again of desert warfare after the Iraq war. An equal number of Indian soldiers from South Western Command are taking part in the military exercise. Interestingly, the US has recently admitted that its special forces are based in India (besides four other South Asian countries).

New Delhi promptly denied it, saying Washington has neither sought nor has India approved stationing of US Special Forces personnel in the country. An external affairs ministry official, however, did admit the two countries occasionally conduct short duration Special Forces exercises in India and the US for counter-terrorism cooperation and capacity building. The two are working together to contain Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attack.

The opening ceremony of Yudh Abhyas was held on March 5 with the unfurling of the national flags of both India and the US to the strains of “Jana Gana Mana” and “The Star Spangled Banner”. Indian and US soldiers stood side by side with their Infantry Combat Vehicles (ICV) and Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) and gave a ceremonial salute to the two senior most officers of the two sides reviewing the line-up.

The US contingent was represented by Col. Thomas J. Roth, Commander 2nd Engineer Brigade, US Army. Brigadier B.S. Dhanoa, his Indian counterpart, welcomed the US soldiers and in his inaugural remarks highlighted the common shared beliefs of democracy, freedom, equality and justice.

State of the art equipment for surveillance and tracking, specialist weapons for close quarter battle with terrorists,explosive and Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detectors, as well as the latest communications equipment are being fielded by both Indian and American sides.

The joint exercise is designed to promote cooperation between the two militaries at the tactical level, while sharing training procedures and building joint operating skills within the framework of UN peacekeeping operations. Troops from both nations will engage in joint planning for a variety of missions, live fire drills, cordon and search operations, as well as search and rescue training.

With Holi falling within the training calendar, the US troops also got a “colorful experience” of the vibrant Indian festival.

Within weeks of completing Yudh Abhyas, troops in the South Western Command will engage in another large-scale war-game titled “Shoor Veer” involving more than 200 tanks and fighter planes of the Indian Air Force. It will begin in March and culminate in May.

The US had participated in ‘Yudh Abhyas 2009’ with the Indian Army when it had taken its Stryker infantry armored vehicles outside of its operational area to a foreign land.
Over the past decade, there has been a rapid transformation in the US-India defense relationship. Joint military exercises have also grown dramatically in size, scope and sophistication.