The Indian Army is conducting a larger-than-usual summer collective exercise on the Rajasthan border between the two countries, called Vijayee Bhava (Be Victorious) at a time when Pakistan is facing all sorts of international opprobrium after the US operation in Abbottabad which killed Osama bin Laden. It is true that the exercise, which involves 20,000 troops, must have been planned in detail well in advance, but the circumstances are such that holding it at this juncture indicates a state of mind of unceasing aggression. The exercise is billed as testing further the concepts of Cold Start, the joint doctrine of all three services developed in 2004. It will examine the results of operationalising Cold Start in summer, when the wear and tear on both men and equipment is much greater. Because of this, the current exercise, the 10th in the last six years, will involve tank-to-tank wars, helicopter operations, and others. Rajasthan desert is considered perhaps the only area where Pakistani and Indian tank forces could engage in a battle of manoeuvre, as they did in 1971. Therefore, this desert area is a favourite for both sides to hold exercises. These exercises gain further in sinister intent if the remarks by the Indian Army chief are considered, that the American example could be followed by India, to apprehend those accused of the Mumbai massacres. It is in that context that the helicopter operations in this exercise gain in significance, because the Abbottabad operation took place on helicopters, and it is virtually certain that if India was to try any similar adventure, it would use helicopters both to introduce and extricate the troops carrying out the mission. Those remarks may well have been rebuffed by both the USA and Foreign Minister S. M. Krishna, but the concepts may well have been introduced in portions of the exercise involving helicopter operations. Indeed, the remarks of the Indian COAS would not have come had he not known that the Indian forces would be tested in the coming exercise. Any omission would be about as grave as that of which the Pakistani forces stand accused in letting the American helicopters through. It should also be noted that India would not conduct an exercise of this scale without having taken its new, post-Soviet, ally, the USA on board. The US and Indian militaries will study these exercises to see what the USA can sell India in terms of military equipment. The Pakistani ruling elite does not lack other evidence that the USA is no friend, but this should be further proof that Pakistan is making a very big mistake by continuing an alliance in which it is not valued.