In a significant decision that could have far-reaching implications for India’s military posture, India and the U.S. have agreed “in principle” on a logistics support agreement — the first proposed in 2004 and resisted by the UPA government for a decade — that would make it easier for both militaries to share each other’s facilities.
The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) was the highlight of U.S. Defence Secretary Ash Carter’s three-day visit to India, which began in Goa on Sunday.
It ended on Monday evening with a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides LEMOA, Mr. Carter and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar announced initiatives to strengthen the growing strategic partnership.
“Secretary Carter and I agreed in principle to conclude a Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in the coming months,” Mr. Parrikar said.
“The draft of LEMOA will be ready in a month, if not weeks.”
Denying that LEMOA would facilitate basing of U.S. troops in India, Mr. Carter said: “It makes it more routine and automatic for us to operate together.” The three “foundational agreements” guide the U.S. high technology cooperation with other countries.
Besides LEMOA (traditionally called the Logistics Support Agreement), the others are Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
— source thehindu.com