India offers Pakistan joint naval exercises
NEW DELHI (AFP) India, which recently staged its first military exercises with China, is ready to carry out naval manoeuvres with Pakistan, the navy chief has said.
Admiral Sureesh Mehta made the offer late Thursday on the sidelines of the inaugural Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) in New Delhi.
"It would have followed as a matter of course if they (Pakistan) were here," he replied to questions on the possibility of a joint naval manoeuvre with Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India since partition in 1947.
However, a first exercise with Pakistan may not happen in Indian waters, the admiral said.
"But now I suppose it (exercise) may happen in a third country," Mehta said.
Twenty-six navies have sent senior representatives including Australia, Egypt and France to the forum, seen by experts as an effort by New Delhi to assert its strategic presence.
Pakistan, which has never previously held military wargames with India, is represented at the meeting by its envoy in New Delhi and a junior naval officer.
Mehta said he hoped IONS would attract broader participation in the future.
"For the few against whom circumstances have so conspired as to preclude their presence in this inaugural event, I would like to send a message to say: ?rest assured that your places are reserved,?" he had said in a speech to the forum.
India's ties with its estranged neighbour have improved since the two launched a peace process in 2004.
In 2006, coastal security agencies from both countries set up a telephone hotline, but bilateral naval contacts remain limited.
India, which fought a brief border war with China in 1962 and still has unresolved border disputes with Beijing, carried out its first military exercises with the People's Liberation Army on Chinese soil in December.
