Indian air force to take part in first exercises with NATO forces

Indian air force to take part in first exercises with NATO forces

22/02/2004 at 05:56:37

Date line: NEW DELHI
India’s air force will take part for the first time in military exercises with NATO countries in July in Alaska, a newspaper report said Sunday.

India and the United States have held joint military exercises but this will be the first time the Indian Air Force (IAF) will team up in manoeuvres with British, German and Turkish forces, the Statesman newspaper said.

The report came as the Indian and US air forces held their first-ever aerial combat games in the skies over the central Indian city of Gwalior.

Military relations between India and western powers have warmed since the end of the Cold War during which New Delhi tilted towards Moscow.

The IAF’s British-made long-range fighter-bomber, the Jaguar, Russian IL-76 transport aircraft and the newly acquired IL-78 air-to-air refuelling aircraft from Ukraine would take part in the Alaska exercises, the report said.

Indian pilots were expected to participate in dummy bombing missions while other IAF personnel would take part in air-defence and electronic jamming drills.

The 10-day exercises by the Indian and US air forces that began last week over central India was the latest sign of the strengthening military ties between the two sides.

The exercises were intended to facilitate future joint peacekeeping operations, not for any Indian combat role alongside US forces, IAF officials have been quoted as saying.

The United States and India resumed joint military training in 2002 after Washington lifted sanctions slapped on New Delhi over the nuclear tests in

Last October, the US and Indian navies held joint manoeuvres in the Arabian Sea, a month after staging joint drills in the Ladakh region of the disputed region of Kashmir.