JODHPUR: India kicked off war games involving thousands of troops 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 — killed in a US raid on a town near Islamabad a week ago — had managed to live in the country undetected for years. India has already given its verdict, denouncing its South Asian neighbour as a terrorist “sanctuary” and renewing calls for Islamabad to arrest suspects behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Obama, Singh discuss Osama killing President Barack Obama spoke Monday with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India. They discussed the “successful American action” against the Al-Qaeda leader and reviewed progress on initiatives launched when Obama visited India in November, the White House said. “The two reaffirmed their commitment to building a global, strategic partnership, including defense cooperation, and looked forward to the upcoming meetings of the Strategic Dialogue, the Homeland Security Dialogue,” etc., it added in a statement.
