 The most famous and successful Indian force to fight with the Axis was the Indian National Army (INA) in southeast Asia, that came into being with the support of the Japanese Empire in April 1942.Fascist Italy also created the Azad Hindustan Battalion () in February 1942.This unit was formed from Indian POWs from their "Centro I" POW camp, and Italians previously resident in India and Persia, and ultimately served under the "Ragruppamento Centri Militari" alongside units of Arabs and colonial Italians.