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US, India sign key military pact
WASHINGTON: India and the US on Monday signed a pact, which experts are describing as a milestone that allows their militaries to access their facilities on a reciprocal
WASHINGTON: India and the US on Monday signed a pact, which experts are describing as a milestone that allows their militaries to access their facilities on a reciprocal basis for logistics support.
The signing of logistics exchange memorandum of agreement (LEMOA), as the pact is called, was announced after defence minister Manohar Parrikar met his US counterpart Ash Carter.
Both officials made it clear that the pact gave no basing rights only access to logistics, such as fuel, during joint exercises and relief operations.
The two officials also discussed India being designated a “major defence partner” by the US, during Prime Minister Modi’s visit.
The statement said, “To this end, the United States has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners.”
But the signing of LEMOA, Milan Vaishnav, an India expert at Carnegie, said was a “big step, not necessarily due to its content, but because many Indian governments have balked at signing it for fear of getting ‘too close’ to the Americans.
In practice, it’s a bookkeeping exercise, but the symbolic value – of bringing the two security establishments together – is significant,” he added.
Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center called the agreement a “milestone” that is “more significant for its implications than its actual provisions. It allows these two countries to scale up security cooperation in a big way.
To be sure this relationship is very far from problem free, but the LEMOA serves as a reminder that there is tremendous potential for a partnership that has bipartisan support in both countries.”
There are two other foundation agreements that the US wants India to sign arguing it has signed them with over 100 countries. They are the Communication and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). Asked when India would be ready to sign them, Parikkar said, that given the earlier distrust, he would like to put it in “public domain properly” first before picking up others.
