By VIVEK RAGHUVANSHI, NEW DELHI
Aircraft carriers from the navies of India and the United States will rendezvous off the coast of Sri Lanka on Feb. 14 for passage exercises.
Indian Defence Ministry officials said the exercise between IndiaÂ’s INS Viraat and the USS Ronald Reagan was decided on quickly and comes ahead of U.S. President George W. BushÂ’s visit to India later this year.
Exercises off the coast of Goa, India, last year between the Indian Navy and a U.S. carrier group led by the aircraft carrier Nimitz took months of planning, officials said.
The Viraat, which is en route to its homeport Mumbai from Visakapatnam in southern India, will lead a group of seven warships from the IndianÂ’ NavyÂ’s western fleet in the exercises with the Reagan.
India and the United States have held several exercises in air, on land and at sea since Washington lifted sanctions against New Delhi in September 2001. |