India and the United States will hold the biggest-ever joint naval exercises off the Kochi coast in which for the first time an American nuclear submarine is to take part, a Naval Spokesman said Monday.

Besides the Nuclear Submarine, the exercise in the Arabian sea will involve two US Perry class destroyers, P3C Orion long range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, and from Indian side two Russian acquired Kashin class missile destroyers, anti-submarine Kamov helicopters and IL-154 reconnaissance aircraft, he said.

The sixth of the Malabar series of exercises will be from Oct. 2 to 6, the spokesman said, adding that the upcoming joint manouvres would bring the level of naval exchanges between the two countries to pre-Pokhran nuclear test level in 1998.

This would be for the first time in over two decades that Indian navy will be involved in deep sea manouvres with a nuclear submarine.

Indian Navy's lone nuclear submarine "INS Chakra" was returned to the Russian Navy after the expire of six year lease in early eighties.

India has been bidding to acquire two more nuclear submarines of larger class than INS Chakra from the Russian Navy and presently negotiations are on for this between New Delhi and Moscow.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2003)