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The ‘in principle’ agreement between India and US to conclude an agreement for providing military logistics may prove beneficial for India as long as it is clear that American troops will not be stationed on Indian soil, experts say.
The announcement on a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) that came during US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter’s just-concluded India visit is already facing political skepticism, which was expected for the agreement that has been pending for 10 years, with the former Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government soft-pedalling on it.
It also comes at a time when US has been vocal about the growing Chinese activities in the South China Sea and has repeatedly on stressed ‘freedom of navigation’.
India on the other hand has been expressing concerns over terror emanating from Pakistan, with the proximity between Pakistan and China being another issue.
The major concern expressed by different political parties for long remained that India, which had chosen to remain non-aligned post-independence and through the Cold War period, must not enter the NATO block by supporting US troops.
Former defence minister and Congress leader AK Antony went to the extent of terming the agreement “disastrous”, while the Left has also opposed it.
However, as both sides – Carter and his Indian counterpart, Manohar Parrikar – clarified, the renamed agreement LEMOA (it was previously the Logistics Support Agreement) would not involve the presence of US troops in India.
The agreement, according to available information, will be country-specific for India and will focus on providing support that will primarily include food, fuel and stores.
Former Indian Army chief General VP Malik, who was in office from 1997 to 2000, a period which included the 1999 Kargil conflict, said the agreement is likely to be beneficial for India.
Strategic analyst C Uday Bhaskar, director of think tank Society for Policy Studies, concurred and said the LEMOA would benefit India in the long term.
Read C Uday Bhaskar’s views about Ash carter’s India visit on The Quint.
Bhaskar also underlined that the agreement, when it comes into force, is unlikely to be binding in nature and India will always have the right to refuse assistance.
“We are not getting stuck in NATO,” he clarified.
The US had first proposed an India-specific LSA in 2004 at the sixth meeting of the India-US Defence Policy Group.
This was a version of the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which the US has with several NATO nations, something that has raised concern.
India has, in the past, provided logistics support to the US. During the 1990-91 Gulf War, prime minister Chandra Shekhar’s coalition government provided overflight rights to US planes, and even permitted refuelling, but revoked it after protests.
During the 2004 tsunami, US support came in handy with India lacking the capability to provide assistance to the vast affected areas, as it did after 2015 Nepal earthquake.
Both General Malik and Bhaskar highlighted this aspect. He said:
Bhaskar said India lacked resources to deploy on multiple fronts after the tsunami. He added:
(This article has been published in a special arrangement with IANS. Anjali Ojha can be contacted at anjali.o@ians.in)
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