Opposition parties in India have expressed concerns over an agreement between India and United States to allow the two countries to use of each other’s military bases.
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While the India-US military logistics agreement was a major milestone, New Delhi and the Washington are quietly working towards a framework that will be far more consequential for the future of defence ties between them.
Saying the defence cooperation between India and the United States never been as strong as it is today, Parrikar said he shared the ambition of his counterpart (Carter) in resolving to make the India-US partnership one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. This includes food, water, fuel, spare parts, repair, transportation, communication and medical services.
Reciprocal logistic support would be used exclusively during authorised port visits, joint exercises, joint training, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts.
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“We resolved to continue our cooperation on counter-terrorism; our open and diverse societies are committed to peace”. Surprisingly, manufacturing of F-16 aircraft in India will also be conditional to Indian government’s contractual commitment to purchase the aircraft for its armed forces.
The party further said the Narendra Modi government has compromised on Indian sovereignty and surrendered its strategic autonomy by signing such an agreement with the US.
“The LEMOA doesn’t have anything to do with the setting up of base”.
The agreement will allow the Indian and US navies to have an easier time supporting each other in joint operations and exercises and when providing humanitarian assistance, Parrikar said. Though strategic expert and director of society for policy studies C Uday Bhaskar allayed fears that the deal will not make India a military ally, reported IANS.
After almost a decade of painstaking discussions, India and the United States signed on a landmark defense agreement that will increase the military cooperation between two of the world’s largest democracies. “We have logistic support agreements with many, many other countries and in most cases it’s a relatively uncontroversial thing”.
Congress, which had appeared to be putting off the agreement while in power, and vocally opposed it when India and U.S. announced their “in principle” agreement in April, made no response till Tuesday evening. It was the only country which had supported India during 1971 war.
With India and the USA on Monday reaffirming the “urgent necessity” for Pakistan to “dismantle safe havens for terrorists and criminal networks” including Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and D Company, Kharge said, “We are telling the entire world that Pakistan is encouraging terrorism and they are sponsoring it; and many times they themselves claimed that how to support them to help the Kashmir people, such pleas they are making”.
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Carter said India’s designation as a “major defence partner” would allow the U.S. to cooperate with it — in both strategic and technological domains — at par with its closet and most long-standing allies.
