M A I N   N E W S

US wants to find remains of its World War-II veterans in India
Ashok Tuteja/TNS

New Delhi, April 17
The United States has sought India’s permission to undertake an exercise in this country to locate the remains of 94 of its personnel who lost their lives in plane crashes during the World War II.

The request was made during the India-US politico-military dialogue held between top officials of the two countries here yesterday.

Official sources said the US side conveyed to New Delhi that Washington wanted to make another attempt, particularly in the North-East, to identify the American citizens who died in the crashes.

“Since this is a humanitarian request, India is considering the possibility of facilitating the US to identify the sites where it wants to carry out carry out the search operations,” sources said.

They said the US had in the past also conducted search operations which had not been completed. The Americans had broached this subject with the Indian authorities after a hiatus of more than two years. The US also proposed to undertake similar exercises in China and Myanmar.

The sources said the two countries also discussed how they could cooperate in counter-piracy operations apart from debating South Asia, Central Asia and West Asia.

There was also a discussion on the US defence exports policy and reforms it was undertaking in it. “As our key partner, the US wants to sensitise us on key aspects of its defence policy,” sources said.

politico-military talks on

• The request was made during the India-US politico-military dialogue held between top officials of the two countries
• Official sources said the US side conveyed to New Delhi that Washington wanted to make another attempt, particularly in the North-East, to identify the American citizens who died in plane crashes