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Published September 6, 2016
SOURCE: DailyMail
After years of negotiations, India and the United States have finally signed the bilateral ‘Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement’ (LEMOA).The new military agreement will provide a basic framework for the provision of logistical support, supplies, and services between the US and India on a reimbursable basis.
Agreement
The two countries had arrived at an agreement “in principle” during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit to Delhi in April this year, but the final pact wasn’t confirmed until last week when Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited the US.
It is expected to help the two militaries coordinate better, and also allow the United States to sell fuel and provide spare parts to India.
The pact will emphasise the importance of strengthening defence ties across many areas – from strategic and regional cooperation, to deepened military-to-military exchanges, and to expanded collaboration on defence technology and innovation.
And with this, US-India defence ties have taken a major step towards consolidation.
These are good times for India’s military. Carter himself has a long-standing interest in India and has been keen to strengthen Indo-American relations.
He was a strong supporter of the India-US nuclear deal, and as deputy secretary of defence in 2011 he was the principal architect of the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), intended to help the flow of advanced American technology to India, an initiative strongly resisted by Washington’s defence bureaucracy.
Carter has taken this forward with the setting up of the India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC), the only country-specific cell in the Department of Defence, as part of the DTTI to fast-forward India-related acquisition issues.
Known to his colleagues as ‘Ash’, the 25th United States Secretary of Defense has emphasised the Pentagon’s decision to change its mindset regarding the transfer of technology to India from a culture of ‘presumptive no’ to one of a ‘presumptive yes’.
And as he has suggested he has spent more time with Parrikar in little over a year than any of his other foreign counterparts, a relationship he attributed to “the new bonhomie” in India-US relations.
Many in India worry that the US wants to make India a junior partner in its regional alliance network, though Washington has been categorical that the logistics agreement did not allow for US troops to be based in India.
Carter himself has been explicit that India was not likely to be an exclusive partner of the United States: “Indians are, like many others, also proud. They want to do things independently, and they want to do things their own way.
“They don’t want to do things just with us. They want to do things with all that’s fine. So we’re not looking for anything exclusive.
“But we are looking for as close a relationship and a stronger relationship as we can because it’s geopolitically grounded.”
Geopolitics
This geopolitical grounding is provided by the rise of China, with Beijing seemingly unwilling to change or even moderate its anti-Delhi posture.
To counter the Chinese challenge, the United States wants to create a “network” of countries with “shared values, habits of cooperation, and compatible and complementary capabilities”, which will expand the strategic reach of the participating countries, enable them to pool their resources to share the security burden, and – “help ensure the peace and stability in the region for years to come.”
New Delhi needs to articulate the requirement for a new security architecture in Asia that can successfully take on the challenge posed by a rising and aggressive China.
During Parrikar’s visit, he and his American counterpart mentioned the importance of the free flow of trade to both countries, underscoring their – “shared interest in freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce as part of rule-based order in (the) Indo-Pacific.”
Delhi and Washington are now focusing on maritime security with another round of dialogue to follow the inaugural one held earlier this year in May.
Motive
ndia and the US have been striving to conclude a series of “foundational agreements” for years now. But under the UPA, even the least controversial ideas could not move forward as then Defence Minister AK Antony, under the influence of the Left parties, became convinced of America’s ‘malign’ motives in pushing it through.
With the LEOMA now finalised, the two nations can finally move forward with some confidence for the future of India-US defence ties.
India is in the big league today and should start thinking big. The old Third World rhetoric doesn’t – and would not – do justice to India’s global aspirations.
The defence pact between the US and India would help the two countries in governing the use of each other’s land, air and naval bases for repair and re-supply, a step toward building defence ties as they seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.
The Modi government is gradually shedding the traditional Indian strategic diffidence and has rightly concluded that strong defence ties with the US enhance our strategic autonomy rather than constraining it.
The writer is Professor of International Relations, King’s College London
SOURCE: DailyMail
After years of negotiations, India and the United States have finally signed the bilateral ‘Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement’ (LEMOA).The new military agreement will provide a basic framework for the provision of logistical support, supplies, and services between the US and India on a reimbursable basis.
Agreement
The two countries had arrived at an agreement “in principle” during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter’s visit to Delhi in April this year, but the final pact wasn’t confirmed until last week when Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar visited the US.
It is expected to help the two militaries coordinate better, and also allow the United States to sell fuel and provide spare parts to India.
The pact will emphasise the importance of strengthening defence ties across many areas – from strategic and regional cooperation, to deepened military-to-military exchanges, and to expanded collaboration on defence technology and innovation.
And with this, US-India defence ties have taken a major step towards consolidation.
These are good times for India’s military. Carter himself has a long-standing interest in India and has been keen to strengthen Indo-American relations.
He was a strong supporter of the India-US nuclear deal, and as deputy secretary of defence in 2011 he was the principal architect of the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI), intended to help the flow of advanced American technology to India, an initiative strongly resisted by Washington’s defence bureaucracy.
Carter has taken this forward with the setting up of the India Rapid Reaction Cell (IRRC), the only country-specific cell in the Department of Defence, as part of the DTTI to fast-forward India-related acquisition issues.
Known to his colleagues as ‘Ash’, the 25th United States Secretary of Defense has emphasised the Pentagon’s decision to change its mindset regarding the transfer of technology to India from a culture of ‘presumptive no’ to one of a ‘presumptive yes’.
And as he has suggested he has spent more time with Parrikar in little over a year than any of his other foreign counterparts, a relationship he attributed to “the new bonhomie” in India-US relations.
Many in India worry that the US wants to make India a junior partner in its regional alliance network, though Washington has been categorical that the logistics agreement did not allow for US troops to be based in India.
Carter himself has been explicit that India was not likely to be an exclusive partner of the United States: “Indians are, like many others, also proud. They want to do things independently, and they want to do things their own way.
“They don’t want to do things just with us. They want to do things with all that’s fine. So we’re not looking for anything exclusive.
“But we are looking for as close a relationship and a stronger relationship as we can because it’s geopolitically grounded.”
Geopolitics
This geopolitical grounding is provided by the rise of China, with Beijing seemingly unwilling to change or even moderate its anti-Delhi posture.
To counter the Chinese challenge, the United States wants to create a “network” of countries with “shared values, habits of cooperation, and compatible and complementary capabilities”, which will expand the strategic reach of the participating countries, enable them to pool their resources to share the security burden, and – “help ensure the peace and stability in the region for years to come.”
New Delhi needs to articulate the requirement for a new security architecture in Asia that can successfully take on the challenge posed by a rising and aggressive China.
During Parrikar’s visit, he and his American counterpart mentioned the importance of the free flow of trade to both countries, underscoring their – “shared interest in freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce as part of rule-based order in (the) Indo-Pacific.”
Delhi and Washington are now focusing on maritime security with another round of dialogue to follow the inaugural one held earlier this year in May.
Motive
ndia and the US have been striving to conclude a series of “foundational agreements” for years now. But under the UPA, even the least controversial ideas could not move forward as then Defence Minister AK Antony, under the influence of the Left parties, became convinced of America’s ‘malign’ motives in pushing it through.
With the LEOMA now finalised, the two nations can finally move forward with some confidence for the future of India-US defence ties.
India is in the big league today and should start thinking big. The old Third World rhetoric doesn’t – and would not – do justice to India’s global aspirations.
The defence pact between the US and India would help the two countries in governing the use of each other’s land, air and naval bases for repair and re-supply, a step toward building defence ties as they seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.
The Modi government is gradually shedding the traditional Indian strategic diffidence and has rightly concluded that strong defence ties with the US enhance our strategic autonomy rather than constraining it.
The writer is Professor of International Relations, King’s College London
