Military muscle: India kicks off war games along Pakistan border

Six-day exercise codenamed Vijayee Bhava held in the Thar desert region.

JODHPUR:

India kicked off war games involving thousands of troops on Monday along its border with arch-rival Pakistan, which is still smarting from the US operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

A military spokesman told reporters the six-day exercise, codenamed Vijayee Bhava (Be Victorious) was being held in the Thar desert region in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

“This exercise envisages sustained massed mechanised manoeuvres,” S D Goswami said, adding the drill involved an array of weaponry that India has acquired as part of its ongoing military modernisation programme. More than 20,000 combat troops were taking part.

The Indian army, the world’s fourth largest in terms of personnel, has conducted 10 major military exercises along Pakistan’s border in the past six years.

Pakistan is currently under pressure to explain how Bin Laden had managed to live in the country undetected for years.

India has already given its verdict, denouncing its neighbour as a terrorist “sanctuary”.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2011.