NEW DELHI, May 5: India said on Sunday it would hold its first joint army war games with the United States, another sign of growing ties between two nations that once sat on opposite sides in the Cold War.

Exercise Balance Iroquois, in the northern Indian town of Agra, comes as India is involved in a tense military stand-off with neighbour Pakistan.

The United States suspended military links with India and Pakistan after they carried out nuclear tests in 1998, but ties have resumed with both nations, especially after they supported US forces fighting in Afghanistan.

The exercise will involve Indian army paratroop-commandos, US special forces from its Asia-Pacific command and aircraft from both countries, an Indian defence spokesman said.

“The aim of this exercise is training in airborne assault where para-jumping is involved. It’s a follow up of our new relationship with the US involving defence supplies, training and other areas,” the spokesman told Reuters.

This was a first for the two armies, although there has been some contact between Indian and US navies in the past, he added.

Details on the number of soldiers participating in the mid-May exercise, around 650 km from the Pakistan border and to last about a week, were unavailable.

While Pakistan has been a US ally much longer than India, New Delhi has continued building up links with Washington.

Top military officials have exchanged visits and Washington agreed to resume sales of defence equipment that were banned under sanctions imposed after the nuclear weapons tests.

India last month bought eight long-range, weapon-locating radars from US-based Raytheon Co, marking the first major weapons deal between the two countries in recent history.

In the past, non-aligned India mostly bought Russian military hardware. Lately it has been shopping for hi-tech weaponry from the United States and Israel although Russia remains its main defence supplier.

Troops from both countries are also planning a joint mountain-warfare exercise in Alaska, the first time Indian troops will take part in war games in the United States.

They also come at a time when the Indian army is conducting war games in the deserts of the western state of Rajasthan and the northern state of Punjab to keep its soldiers fighting fit.—Reuters