U.S., India In Military Exercise
As a symbol of rapidly expanding ties between Washington and New Delhi, U.S. soldiers on Thursday strapped on Indian parachutes and jumped from a Soviet-made AN-32 transport aircraft in the first U.S.-India joint military exercise in seven years.
Minutes later, an American C-130 Hercules transport plane dropped a group of Indian soldiers in green camouflage on the outskirts of Agra — the ancient home of the Taj Mahal.
"The best thing is trying to train together, learning about each other's methods and sharing ideas," said Maj. Thomas Seagrist, joint mission commander for the U.S. Special Operations Forces.
A heat wave has hit India, making conditions tough for troops participating in the exercise, dubbed "Balance Iroquois," after a native American tribe. Temperatures reached 113 degrees.
Most of the Americans came from Fort Lewis, Wash., where daytime summer temperatures hover around 70 degrees.
"It's hot here. But it won't slow us down. We take more water breaks and stand in the shade," said Master Sgt. Michael Farris from New Jersey.
The U.S. soldiers come from the Special Forces departments of the Air Force and the Army, and are forbidden from giving many details about their identities.
After 19 years with the Air Force, Farris described the exercise as a new experience. "It's the first time I have seen a Soviet-built aircraft."
One hundred and eighty U.S. personnel and 150 Indian troops are taking part in the exercise, which ends May 26. They are exchanging expertise in special operations and airborne assault.
The exercise is being held against a background of rising tensions between India and neighboring Pakistan, also being courted by Washington as an ally in its war on terror.
Col. Jaswinder Pal Singh, an Indian army officer overseeing the exercise, said the current war games did not include a focus on an imaginary enemy.
"We don't have a specific target," said Singh.
Two larger exercises are planned in Agra in October and in Alaska in December.
The Indian air force's only paratrooper training school is located at Agra, 110 miles southeast of New Delhi.
Defense cooperation between India and the United States has had a checkered history.
Training links were established in the 1960s, but faltered through the 1970s and 1980s as India moved closer to the then-Soviet Union, which became a major supplier of military hardware.
After the Cold War, tensions eased and joint training resumed in 1992. It stopped again in 1995 when India refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and Washington imposed economic sanctions after nuclear tests by India.
But relations warmed under Clinton, who in 2000 made the first visit by an American president in 22 years. When the Bush administration lifted the sanctions, military cooperation, visits by top generals and a constant stream of U.S. government official visits have followed.
Relations tightened after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks when India was among the first to offer operational support to the United States.
By ASHOK SHARMA