Monday, September 18 2006 15:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Schofield Barracks (Hawaii): Forty Indian soldiers in jungle camouflage descend on a mock village in the central Oahu mountains, hunting for insurgents. American officers watch for lessons they can apply when leading their own soldiers through the same course on a US Army training ground.

The troops are in the island for the biggest joint drills the Indian and US armies have had to date, the latest sign of growing military relations between the two nuclear powers.

The bilateral exercise, called 'Yudh Abhyas,' or 'Training for War' in Hindi, started four years ago with a handful of Indian and US soldiers. It has since ballooned to involve hundreds of troops, including 140 Indians who flew to Hawaii, which hosts the US Pacific Command whose reach extends to their homeland.

"It's a tremendous expansion," said Col Dinesh Singh, of the Indian army's 3rd Battalion, 9th Gurkha Rifles. He added the exercises were now teaching platoons from the two nations how to talk to each other in the field, moving beyond the basics of training individual soldiers.



"We work on larger issues at this stage. We're trying to work on commonalities," Singh said.

"If you're talking about interoperability, this is the basic thing. We should be able to understand each other's actions," he said.

Analysts say the United States is eager to deepen military ties with India to learn some of the counter-insurgency methods India's military has cultivated during its long battle against Muslim separatists in Kashmir.

The Americans also want India's large navy to help patrolthe seas for terrorists and pirates, analysts say.