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The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Nation | India, US plan record 9 army drills
New Delhi, April 4: The Indian and US armies will have nine joint drills this year, a record of sorts even at a time both countries have been increasing the complexity and frequency of military exchanges.
Some of the drills planned for this year will be war games built around battle scenarios and the others briefing sessions on battlefield tactics.
A separate programme of exchanges for the air forces and the navies of the two countries is being discussed. With no other single country does the Indian military have as many exchanges as it does with the US.
“We have reached a historic threshold with our relationship between the two countries,” the commanding general of the US Army Pacific, Lt General Benjamin R. Mixon, said. “The operations we do together are reaching a complexity of the highest level.”
The top brass of the Indian Army and the US Army Pacific, Marine Forces Pacific and the Special Operations Command decided on the programme of the exercises for 2010-2011 at meetings of the executive steering group (ESG) of the two sides in the Indian Army’s western command headquarters in Chandimandir, near Chandigarh, last month.
Mixon led the US delegation. The Indian team was led by the director-general of military operations (DGMO), Lt General A.S. Sekhon.
Some of the drills will involve amphibious operations, meaning the US Marines, the Indian Navy and a brigade of the Indian Army will take part in landing operations from the sea.
The India-US ESG was set up in 1995 but meetings were suspended after the Indian nuclear tests in 1998. The relations were revived in 2002.
The ESG is one of the committees under the overarching India-US defence policy group (DPG).
“This forum provides senior leaders the opportunity to come together to chart out a programme of exchanges for the US and Indian armies,” a US Army Pacific statement quoting the commanding Mixon said.
In the Chandigarh conference, representatives of the two sides exchanged notes from their operations on the ground.
“It was good to glean information from the Indian Army officers about their immense experience with IED (improvised explosive devices) threats,” a statement quoting Colonel Ed Toy, director, IED Fusion Center, said.
Most US casualties in Iraq have been caused by IEDs. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army has been dealing with IEDs used by militants for more than 20 years now.
In the nine drills that have been planned, the types of forces to be involved will cover the mechanised infantry, IED detection and disposal squads, artillery, aviation and psychological operations.
Last year, the two armies held their largest joint exercise ever in Yudh Abhyas for which the US carried out the largest deployment of Stryker vehicles outside Iraq and Afghanistan.
The multi-role ground operations vehicles were shipped and flown to Babina, the Indian Army’s armoured corps range.
Top
New Delhi, April 4: The Indian and US armies will have nine joint drills this year, a record of sorts even at a time both countries have been increasing the complexity and frequency of military exchanges.
Some of the drills planned for this year will be war games built around battle scenarios and the others briefing sessions on battlefield tactics.
A separate programme of exchanges for the air forces and the navies of the two countries is being discussed. With no other single country does the Indian military have as many exchanges as it does with the US.
“We have reached a historic threshold with our relationship between the two countries,” the commanding general of the US Army Pacific, Lt General Benjamin R. Mixon, said. “The operations we do together are reaching a complexity of the highest level.”
The top brass of the Indian Army and the US Army Pacific, Marine Forces Pacific and the Special Operations Command decided on the programme of the exercises for 2010-2011 at meetings of the executive steering group (ESG) of the two sides in the Indian Army’s western command headquarters in Chandimandir, near Chandigarh, last month.
Mixon led the US delegation. The Indian team was led by the director-general of military operations (DGMO), Lt General A.S. Sekhon.
Some of the drills will involve amphibious operations, meaning the US Marines, the Indian Navy and a brigade of the Indian Army will take part in landing operations from the sea.
The India-US ESG was set up in 1995 but meetings were suspended after the Indian nuclear tests in 1998. The relations were revived in 2002.
The ESG is one of the committees under the overarching India-US defence policy group (DPG).
“This forum provides senior leaders the opportunity to come together to chart out a programme of exchanges for the US and Indian armies,” a US Army Pacific statement quoting the commanding Mixon said.
In the Chandigarh conference, representatives of the two sides exchanged notes from their operations on the ground.
“It was good to glean information from the Indian Army officers about their immense experience with IED (improvised explosive devices) threats,” a statement quoting Colonel Ed Toy, director, IED Fusion Center, said.
Most US casualties in Iraq have been caused by IEDs. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Army has been dealing with IEDs used by militants for more than 20 years now.
In the nine drills that have been planned, the types of forces to be involved will cover the mechanised infantry, IED detection and disposal squads, artillery, aviation and psychological operations.
Last year, the two armies held their largest joint exercise ever in Yudh Abhyas for which the US carried out the largest deployment of Stryker vehicles outside Iraq and Afghanistan.
The multi-role ground operations vehicles were shipped and flown to Babina, the Indian Army’s armoured corps range.
Top