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| Sunday, 20 November 2005 |
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India holds war games near Pakistan border Nov 19 (AFP) - India's military Friday staged a grand finale to major military manoeuvres, showcasing newly-acquired T-90 battle tanks and warplanes close to the border with Pakistan in the Thar desert. The Indian military said New Delhi gave advance notice of the 14-day exercises codenamed "Operation Desert Strike" to neighbouring Pakistan in line with a pact between the nuclear-armed rivals, who are engaged in a slow-moving peace process to end their decades-old feud over Kashmir. "Such exercises show our capability and ability," said Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee. He said, however, the war games were not designed to intimidate India's neighbours. "India does not have any territorial designs...all our capabilities are just aimed at protecting our interests," Mukherjee said as supersonic jets dived in mock attacks. Officials said the exercise was the biggest since the 1987 Operation Brass Tacks in the desert state of Rajasthan which sent tensions skyrocketing between India and Pakistan. The two countries have fought three wars, two over the Himalayan state of Kashmir. Forty-two observers and diplomats from 30 countries including Bangladesh, Britain, China, France and the United States were at the war games in Pokhran. "We welcome such observers," the defence minister said. The latest exercises were staged in the vicinity of India's nuclear testing site, where New Delhi stunned the world by carrying out nuclear tests in May 1998 that sparked tit-for-tat blasts by Pakistan days later. Friday's finale came a day after the Indian Air Force wound up joint 12-day exercises with the US Air Force in Marxist-ruled West Bengal state. |
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