NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — A team of experts from the US has arrived in India yet again to comb the dense jungles and icy glaciers in the Himalayan range to trace and recover the remains of armed personnel who went missing while flying over the area during World War-II.
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Last year, the US defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) deployed a team to northeast India for 30 days during which they took away the human remains collected from a dense forest area near Bhismaknagar in the Lower Dibang Valley of the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
During the DPAA's missions in 2015, remains were also recovered and are in the process of being identified through DNA testing.
In 2004, the US agency started such expedition in India but after five years, India had suspended permission to execute search mission without citing any reasons.
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The then US President Barack Obama had requested Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resume the suspended search operation in January 2015. The Indian government had given the nod only after families and supporters of America's Arunachal Missing in Action Servicemen (MIAS) wrote an emotive letter.
"This is the fifth DPAA mission to India since 2013, demonstrating successful cooperation between the governments of India and the United States. This positive relationship underscores the dedication each nation brings to this humanitarian mission," MaryKay Carlson, the Chargé d'Affaires at the US Embassy in New Delhi said.
Approximately 400 US airmen reportedly went missing in action in India during World War II. Their remains are believed to be located in the Himalaya mountain range in the north and northeast India.
