Agencies
NEW DELHI, April 12
This is among a series of new initiatives announced by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his U.S. counterpart Ashton Carter on Tuesday.
In a step towards elevating the strategic partnership between the countries, India and the U.S. have agreed “in-principle” on the draft of a modified Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) which will make it easier for both the militaries to share and access each other’s facilities.
This is among a series of new initiatives announced in a joint press conference by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and his U.S. counterpart Ashton Carter on Tuesday.
Observing that the growing interaction between our armed forces is another significant aspect of our bilateral partnership Mr. Parrikar noted that today, India has more joint exercises with the United States than with any other country in the world.
“As our engagement deepens, we need to develop practical mechanisms to facilitate such exchanges. In this context, Secretary Carter and I agreed in principle to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in the coming months,” Mr. Parrikar said in his opening statement.
Allaying fears that the LEMOA would facilitate basing of U.S. troops in India, Mr. Carter said that “it makes it more routine and automatic for us to operate together.”
Mr. Parrikar stated that the final points have been accepted by both parties and will be exchanged by both parties. “The draft of LEMOA will be ready in a month if not weeks.”
In addition both countries have agreed to set up a new bilateral Maritime Security Dialogue “between officials from our respective Defence and External Affairs Ministries”.
Taking note of developments in South China Sea and developments in the region Mr. Parrikar said that they have also decided to enhance our on-going Navy-to-Navy discussions to cover submarine-related issues.
“Both countries will also deepen cooperation in Maritime Domain Awareness by finalizing a ‘White Shipping’ Agreement,” he added.
With a view to take forward high technology cooperation under the Defence Technology Trade Initiative (DTTI), two more projects have been added to the initial four path finder projects which include digital helmet mounted displays and biological tactical protection systems.
Mr. Carter is on a three day visit in India during which he given a tour of India’s aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and the two leaders held ministerial level talks on Tuesday.
