& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

India, US begin first joint war games

Rocca in Delhi, may visit Islamabad today in a bid to defuse growing tension

AP, New Delhi
The first joint military exercises between India and the United States are under way, as part of expanding cooperation since the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Some 200 American soldiers from the Special Operations Forces at the US Pacific Command in Honolulu began the exercises Saturday near Agra, the US Embassy said.
"Today, not far from Agra, Indian paratroopers and American special operations forces are participating in their largest-ever joint army and air exercise since India's independence," said Christina Rocca, US assistant secretary of state for South Asia.
Rocca was in the Indian capital yesterday in an effort to defuse escalating tensions between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan.
The Indian 50th Parachute Battalion contributed 200 troops to the exercise, which will include parachute jumping and weapons training, the India Defense Ministry said.
"The specific goal of the exercise is to conduct joint parachute training and mutual familiarisation with small arms," Rocca said. "But the larger, long-term goal is much more ambitious and is based on strategic, diplomatic and political cooperation as well as sound economic ties."
India was one of the first countries to offer logistical and operational support to the United States after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on
the Pentagon and World Trade Center.
Washington is anxious over growing reports that New Delhi has lost patience with Islamabad and is considering taking action along the border. As the Himalayan snows melt, there has been a steady stream of attacks in Kashmir by Pakistan-based Islamic militants.
New Delhi believes that Washington should do more to force Pakistan to rein in the extremists and push Islamabad to hand over suspected terrorists who are on India's most-wanted list.
Rocca, expected to visit Islamabad today, thanked India for its quick offer of help after the September terrorists attacks.
"This offer was a splendid act of solidarity with the American people at a time of urgent need," she told Indian business leaders in a speech that did not touch on India's relations with Pakistan.
"South Asia is a key front in the global war on terrorism," she said. "Dismantling the structure of extremism and terror must go hand in hand with addressing and eliminating its root causes."
Indian defense Minister George Fernandes said India did not plan to attack Pakistan, despite provocation, at least until after elections in India's Jammu-Kashmir state, which are expected in September.
"We do not want the elections to be disrupted at any cost," The New York Times quoted Fernandes as saying, in its yesterday's editions. He is the only senior Indian official to publicly say there will be no early military action.
India's Defense Ministry issued its annual report Monday in which it said there had been no letup in the infiltration of Pakistan-based militants across the cease-fire line that divides Kashmir.
"Pakistan has been found to be an epicentre of Islamic fundamentalism and her actions (have) added a new dimension to state-sponsored terrorism," the Defense Ministry report said.
The report said Pakistan is the primary source for arms to Kashmiri militants and that Islamabad was "continuing with its policy of sponsoring terrorism in other parts of India, too.”