India and the United States have signed a key logistics agreement that will enable forces of both the countries to use each other’s bases for fix and replenishment of supplies.
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There are no prizes for guessing whether the Indian military will be so far deployed ever as the USA military is.
Officials within the Pakistan establishment have refrained from issuing any official statement on the issue, but according to the report, they privately admitted that the Indo-US agreement could alter the balance in South-East Asia in terms of strategic affairs in India’s favour. Biggest advantage will go to Indian Navy.
Yet, this should not preclude closer cooperation with countries which can have no inimical designs on this country. In fact, if the Chinese-Pakistan axis assumes a greater threat than it is at present, there should be no hesitation for India to seek closer strategic ties with the US.
Such offices have to be notified under a separate agreement that flows from the LEMOA, called “Implementing Arrangements”. Joint exercises and joint training, humanitarian missions such as disaster relief automatically qualify under LEMOA.
The LEMOA is modelled on the Acquisitions and Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSA) that Washington has with its North Atlantic Treaty Organisation partners.
In the post-cold war period and especially after the Indo-US rapprochement following the 1998 nuclear tests, India’s relations with the US underwent a subtle change as India struggled to get out of its cold war strategic inhibitions.
The UPA II government under then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had all but signed a similar agreement with a different name, Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA), but it was aborted by opposition from then defence minister A.K. Antony.
Before the agreement was signed, U.S. and Indian navies had to ask for permission to enter one another’s military bases, with requests having to be reviewed by the “host” side in each individual case.
At one point Pranab Mukherjee, who was defence minister and later foreign minister, had defended the MLSA in Parliament. This history blunts the Congress’s objections to the pact now.
“The logistic support with India will help to ensure that the United States will maintain influence on that very important navigation route”. Bangladesh is considering such an agreement.
The territories are also claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines. Countries may offer urgent refueling and maintenance services to others during peace, even in the absence of any formal agreement.
“We think it will make the conduct of our operations with the Indian military that much more efficient and effective”.
The terminology used may certainly disturb some of India’s neighbors. However, signing of the LEMOA and various terms and condition enshrined in it only upholds India’s emphasis on strategic autonomy.
Hence, America might have been forced to change the policy of reliance on big military alliances that can be hard to control.
Some strategic analysts are disturbed by the idea of a strategic embrace even if they accept the logic of India building stronger ties with the US.
Meanwhile, an editorial in The Global Times, a Chinese English language newspaper, warned that the Indo-US pact would exacerbate tensions in Asia.
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Apart from domestic political pressure, the Modi government will now have to deal with worldwide compulsions, specifically with Moscow. Though some analysts in India argue that the countries do not share the same perspective on terrorism, the United States is increasingly becoming sensitive to India’s concerns. With the LEMOA, Moscow is looking at whether New Delhi is shifting in its choice of strategic partnership – that is, defence supplies – from the east to the west.
