LEMOA is inked

The long-pending Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) was signed on Monday. It stipulates a reciprocal provision of logistics support, supplies and services between the Indian and American armed forces. In a way, it is a logical step forward in bilateral defence ties that are increasingly anchored in perceived strategic convergence. Indian warships and military aircraft can now substantially extend their operational reach in the Asia-Pacific region to, for example, the American bases in Dijbouti (Horn of Africa), Diego Garcia in the southern Indian Ocean and Guam in the western Pacific Ocean.

Though the agreement allows the armed forces of both countries to use each other’s land, air and naval bases for repair and resupply, it does not involve the setting up of military bases or forging a military alliance on the lines of NATO. Nor will it involve a permanent stationing of US troops on Indian soil and vice versa. Both countries will be able to access each other’s military bases only during non-lethal operations such as exercises, joint training, port calls, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations etc. In fact, LEMOA, a modification of the Logistics Supply Agreement, comes at the end of decade-long negotiations precisely because India remains opposed to forging military alliances directed against any country while at the same time protecting its national interest and sovereignty. That is why two other foundational agreements under negotiation with the US — the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) — continue to be subject of considerable contention.

In recent years, the US has emerged as India’s major source of defence equipment ($13 billion worth in the last decade). The strategic defence partnership involves the US according India the status of ‘Major Defence Partner’ that permits New Delhi licence-free access to most of America’s latest defence equipment, including a wide range of dual use technology, making India the only country outside the US’ formal treaty allies to be accorded this facility. The growing defence ties are likely to be viewed with concern by an increasingly assertive China and a hostile Pakistan. That is when diplomacy should kick in and our neighbours be kept engaged.