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India and US to hold joint naval exercises
NEW DELHI â Aircraft carriers from the Indian and US navies will hold joint exercises for the first time this month, officials said yesterday, boosting ties between the world's two largest democracies. The Indian navyâs lone carrier, INS Viraat, and the USS Nimitz are to conduct joint operations on fleet air defences, anti-submarine warfare and anti-piracy operations off Indiaâs western coast.India plans to build an aircraft carrier by 2012 as New Delhi moves to boost the blue-water capability of its naval forces. It has also signed a $1.5-billion deal with Russia for a second-hand carrier that will be handed over to India by 2009 after a refit. The Indian naval fleet, the seventh largest in the world, consists of around 140 vessels but many of its ships and submarines are old and in need of replacement. Analysts said the joint naval exercises between India and the United States would boost ties between the two countries. "It provides a certain degree of substance to the larger aspect of India-US relations," said Uday Bhaskar of the New Delhi-based Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. "We are moving to higher levels of complexities in (military) operational interface." Posted by: Steve White 2005-09-24 |
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