Army commanders said the military manoeuvres would he held in the backyard of the Mughul built Taj Mahal and continue for two weeks in a facility where India's military trains its elite para commandos.

"The only thing that nags us is whether these American troops can withstand the arid conditions of the exercise theatre," an Indian official said of temperatures now crossing 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) in India's parched northern plains.

In New Delhi, US Embassy spokesman Gordon Duguid said the exercises reflected a growing military cooperation.

"This is the largest army exercise ever to take place between US and India and it will involve up to 200 special operations forces from the US Pacific Command who will hold exercises with Indian paratroopers over two weeks in joint jumps and small arms fire," Duguid said.

"The exercises are taking place in the framework of our ongoing military-to-military relationship and it will be the first of a regular series of exercises," he added.

The last Indo-US exercises were held a year after India fought a brief but bitter border war with China in 1962.

Indian military commanders in Agra, 200 kilometres (120 miles) south from New Delhi, said the airforce-backed exercise would provide a unique opportunity for both sides to learn new procedures.

"Such joint manoeuvres are aimed at developing better understanding of equipment and exchange of experiences, procedures as well as human relations," a senior commander said.

"With the changing scenario internationally, such exercises have their own importance," he added.

India extended its support to the US-lead coalition against terrorism and offered some of its military facilities after Washington launched military operations in October against Afghanistan's Taliban Islamic militia.

India has held military manoeuvres with Britain, France and Japan in recent years, besides conducting anti-piracy sea patrols off the Malacca Straits between Indonesia and Malaysia with the US navy.

Some 50 US policy-makers have visited India since last July and an equal number of Indians, including Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and members of his national security team, have travelled to Washington.

The contacts increased after September 11 and peaked following fresh military tensions between India and Pakistan over an attack on the national parliament in New Delhi in December.

Indian army chief S. Padmanabhan visited the United States in April shortly after Washington agreed to sell eight Firefinder artillery-locating radars worth 146 million dollars.

The contract was the first US defence deal in more than a decade with India, which historically has looked to Russia for the bulk of its hardware.

Pakistan decried the sale amid unofficial reports that the United States was also considering the sale of four maritime military planes to India.

India and Pakistan drew US-led sanctions after they carried out rival nuclear tests in 1998 but the restrictions were lifted soon after September 11.

Indian defence analysts said the exercise in Agra would help in ending mutual suspicions.

"There is some sort of mindblock on both the militaries because of Cold War alignments but those are now waning because of the global war on terrorism and this exercise can be another contributor to that," Indian military expert Kapil Kak said.

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