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Military pacts on hold but India, US continue with exercises, arms deals
NEW DELHI: India may still be wary of inking three bilateral military pacts being pushed by US but the flurry of joint combat exercises and defence deals between the two countries continues unabated.
Even as defence minister A K Antony leaves for Washington on Sunday for a brief two-day visit, India remains quite unconvinced about the "benefits'' that will accrue from the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA).
While the first pact deals with providing logistical support for each other's armed forces, the other two deal with technology safeguards. "We have our doubts...further negotiations are in progress. The pacts will not be signed during Antony's visit,'' said an Indian official.
A US government official, however, said CISMOA and BECA were basically "technology enablers'', which would help US provide "sensitive technology'' to India. The LSA, too, would be beneficial to both sides. "We are trying to understand Indian concerns and clarify doubts,'' he said.
But this deadlock apart, the bilateral military ties are going full steam ahead. For one, Indian and American special forces are currently engaged in the "Vajra Prahar'' counter-terrorism exercise at the Belgaum commando school in Karnataka.
For another, an Indian naval team is likely to soon leave for Okinawa in Japan for the amphibious exercise "Habunag'' with US Navy and marines. Then, a large Indian contingent of around 200 personnel will be leaving for Alaska to take part in the "Balance Iroquois'' wargames. India and US, incidentally, have held over 60 exercises over the last decade.
US, of course, is also now cornering a major chunk of the lucrative Indian defence market. The latest deal to be inked, worth around $170 million, is the one for 24 Harpoon Block-II anti-ship missiles to arm the maritime strike Jaguar fighters in IAF's combat fleet.
Then, the largest-ever Indo-American defence deal till now, the around $3.5 billion one for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft, is now in the final stages of being inked.
Another contract on the verge of finalisation is the around $375-million deal for 510 CBU-105 sensor-fuzed weapons, along with test equipment, which are meant for anti-armour warfare.
Moreover, India is going to order a large number of the quite expensive Javelin 2.5-km range anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The deal for these man-portable, fire-and-forget missile systems will once again be a direct government-to-government one under the US foreign military sales (FMS) programme, without any global multi-vendor competition.
NEW DELHI: India may still be wary of inking three bilateral military pacts being pushed by US but the flurry of joint combat exercises and defence deals between the two countries continues unabated.
Even as defence minister A K Antony leaves for Washington on Sunday for a brief two-day visit, India remains quite unconvinced about the "benefits'' that will accrue from the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA).
While the first pact deals with providing logistical support for each other's armed forces, the other two deal with technology safeguards. "We have our doubts...further negotiations are in progress. The pacts will not be signed during Antony's visit,'' said an Indian official.
A US government official, however, said CISMOA and BECA were basically "technology enablers'', which would help US provide "sensitive technology'' to India. The LSA, too, would be beneficial to both sides. "We are trying to understand Indian concerns and clarify doubts,'' he said.
But this deadlock apart, the bilateral military ties are going full steam ahead. For one, Indian and American special forces are currently engaged in the "Vajra Prahar'' counter-terrorism exercise at the Belgaum commando school in Karnataka.
For another, an Indian naval team is likely to soon leave for Okinawa in Japan for the amphibious exercise "Habunag'' with US Navy and marines. Then, a large Indian contingent of around 200 personnel will be leaving for Alaska to take part in the "Balance Iroquois'' wargames. India and US, incidentally, have held over 60 exercises over the last decade.
US, of course, is also now cornering a major chunk of the lucrative Indian defence market. The latest deal to be inked, worth around $170 million, is the one for 24 Harpoon Block-II anti-ship missiles to arm the maritime strike Jaguar fighters in IAF's combat fleet.
Then, the largest-ever Indo-American defence deal till now, the around $3.5 billion one for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft, is now in the final stages of being inked.
Another contract on the verge of finalisation is the around $375-million deal for 510 CBU-105 sensor-fuzed weapons, along with test equipment, which are meant for anti-armour warfare.
Moreover, India is going to order a large number of the quite expensive Javelin 2.5-km range anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The deal for these man-portable, fire-and-forget missile systems will once again be a direct government-to-government one under the US foreign military sales (FMS) programme, without any global multi-vendor competition.
