US soldiers during the Kalaikunda war games. File picture

New Delhi, Sept. 6: Indian and US soldiers today began the latest in a series of military exercises by their armies and air forces at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.

The second edition of the Yudh Abhyas (training for war) series of exercises will last nearly three weeks and will focus on urban warfare. In an earlier edition of the exercise this year, a unit of the US Army’s 25th infantry division participated just before being deployed in Iraq.

India-US military exercises are drawn up in a programme drafted under the defence policy group and have been institutionalised. Earlier this year, a defence ministry advisory urged senior bureaucrats and officers to spread foreign tie-ups around after criticism that India was pursuing military relations with the US at the cost of its ties with other — mainly west European — countries.

Defence minister Pranab Mukherjee’s current visit to France and Germany is a continuation of that effort to dispel the impression that military relations are lopsided.

But India-US military exercises are now set to increase both in scope and complexity with a number of exchanges in the short term.

US embassy officials here said the current edition of Yudh Abhyas will focus on counter-insurgency operations in urban situations. There will be live firing during a demonstration of tactics. Indian Army sources said a company from a Gorkha Rifles battalion is in Hawaii.

Yudh Abhyas 06-02 follows the first edition at Chaubatiya in the Himalayan foothills in January this year. In 2005, US Army elements also trained in the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Vairangte, Mizoram.

A total of 140 Indian Army and Air Force personnel are participating in the drills that began today.

Alongside the army, 20 soldiers from a special Indian Air Force security unit, Garud, are also in Hawaii. The IAF personnel will also train in US airlift missions at the Hickam Air Force base of the Pacific Command.