CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. —  Officials are searching for two soldiers from India who disappeared from a sprawling Marine base in Southern California, the government said Friday.

The unidentified soldiers have been missing since March 20, the final day of a 30-day training exercise with the Camp Pendleton-based 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Defense Department officials said.

The State Department is working with Defense and state and local law enforcers "to provide the Indian government with all the help it needs to locate these individuals," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.