India's bid to join US alliance could irk China, Pakistan: Chinese media

[anant_s]

Highlights

• LEMOA could "irritate" China, Pakistan or even Russia, state-run Global Times said.
• India may lose strategic independence if it leans towards the US, the Global Times said.
• LEMOA allows US and Indian militaries to use each other's bases.

BEIJING: Attempts by India to join US's alliance could "irritate" China, Pakistan or even Russia and bring "strategic troubles" to New Delhi while making it a centre of geopolitical rivalries in Asia, China's state-run media commented on Tuesday.

In an editorial written ahead of defence minister Manohar Parrikar and US defence secretary Ashton Carter signing a logistics agreement+ , state-run Global Times said India may lose strategic independence if it leans towards the US.

The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement+ (LEMOA) allows India and US militaries to access each other's military facilities for refuelling and replenishment.

"This is undoubtedly a leap forward in US-India military cooperation. US media highly applauded this deal, with Forbes hailing it as a 'war pact' and believing that India is shifting away from Russia, its Cold War ally, toward a new alliance with the US," the editorial said.

"If India hastily joins the US alliance system, it may irritate China, Pakistan or even Russia. It may not make India feel safer, but will bring strategic troubles to itself and make itself a centre of geopolitical rivalries in Asia," it said.

"India holds dear its independence and sovereignty after squeezing out of the UK's colonialism. It views itself as a major power and is developing on the wave of the emerging countries," the editorial said.

While India has adopted a prudent attitude so far refraining from joining US alliance, some defence analysts expressed worries that India may lose strategic independence and warned that the pact may render New Delhi a "follower" of Washington, it said.

Observing that India attaches high importance to national security, the editorial said, "It feels it is an urgent task because its defence+ levels are a necessary condition of being a major power, rather than out of a sense of crisis that requires an intimacy to the US."

Due to its non-alignment policy, India has been given attention from all the major powers such as the US, Japan, China and Russia in recent years, it noted.

"However, in recent years, Washington has deliberately wooed New Delhi to become its quasi ally so as to impose geopolitical pressure on China. It is possible that the (Narendra) Modi administration is trying an unconventional way to lean toward the US with the logistics agreement+ ," the editorial said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...kistan-Chinese-media/articleshow/53925807.cms

 

[anant_s]

US, India sign military logistics agreement

Highlights

• India and US have signed Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).
• LEMOA allows US and Indian militaries to use each other's assets and bases.
• LEMOA, however, does not allow for basing of US troops in India.

WASHINGTON: The United States and India signed an agreement+ on Monday governing the use of each other's land, air and naval bases for repair and resupply, a step toward building defence ties+ as they seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.

Welcoming the signing of the bilateral 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA), defence minister Manohar Parrikar and US defence secretary Ashton Carter said the pact will facilitate opportunities for "practical engagement and exchange".

LEMOA facilitates the provision of logistical support+ , supplies, and services between the US and Indian militaries on a reimbursable basis, and provides a framework to govern them.

"They agreed on the importance (that) this framework will provide to facilitate innovative and advanced opportunities in defence technology and trade cooperation. To this end, the US has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners," said a joint statement after the pact was signed.

According to the statement, the defence ties between the two countries is based on their "shared values and interests," and their "abiding commitment to global peace and security."

During their meeting, Parrikar and Carter discussed the "wealth of progress" in bilateral cooperation and deepening strategic partnership between the United States and India.

The US has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners.

A milestone in US-India defence ties

The agreement, a relatively mundane one concerning day-to-day military logistics, is nonetheless a milestone in the US-India defence relationship because of the outsized political importance it had taken on in India, where it had touched on domestic sensitivities, experts said.

The signing of the agreement will "make the logistics of joint operations so much easier and so much more efficient," US defence secretary Ash Carter said in a news briefing with defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday.

The agreement will allow the Indian and US navies to have an easier time supporting each other in joint operations and exercises and when providing humanitarian assistance, Parrikar said.

Washington's desire for deeper security cooperation with India had been complicated without the signing of the logistics agreement as well as two other pacts that would allow for secure communications and the exchange of nautical and other data. The agreements are considered routine between the United States and its other defence partners.

But India has had concerns such an agreement would commit it to hosting US troops at its bases, or draw it into a military alliance with the United States and undermine its traditional autonomy. Carter and Parrikar reached an agreement "in principle" in April, but had yet to finalize the details.

Carter has made closer military ties with India a priority, and established a special unit within the Pentagon last year to promote cooperation with that country. Parrikar's visit to Washington this week marks the sixth interaction between the two top defence officials.

The signing of the logistics agreement indicates the priority the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi places on a closer defence relationship with the United States, said Benjamin Schwartz, until last year the India country director at the Pentagon.

"For years, there has been tremendous misinformation put out into the Indian press about these agreements," said Schwartz, now with the US-India Business Council, which promotes trade ties between the two countries.

"What the signing of this shows is that the Modi government is willing to take and suffer the short-term political criticism of signing these things for the longer-term benefit of building the defence relationship with the United States."

Both Carter and Parrikar went to pains on Monday to make clear that the logistics agreement did not allow for basing of US troops in India.

"It's not a basing agreement of any kind," Carter said.

The debate over the logistics agreement had served as a vehicle for the distrust some of India's political class has towards the United States, said Shane Mason, a research associate at the Stimson Center. The United States had previously imposed sanctions on India related to its 1998 nuclear test, although the sanctions were eased later.

"From the US perspective this was kind of a low hanging fruit," Mason said. "We have logistic support agreements with many, many other countries and in most cases it's a relatively uncontroversial thing."

The US military has made clear it wants to do more with India, especially in countering China, which US officials say is risking stoking conflict through its claims in the South China Sea, a vital trade waterway.

Without naming China, both Carter and Parrikar mentioned the importance of the free flow of trade to both countries.

"India and the United States have a shared interest in freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce as part of rule-based order in (the) Indo-Pacific," Parrikar said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-logistics-agreement/articleshow/53921866.cms

@Joe Shearer
Sir, in contemporary time, this is closest India has ever been to US. I don't want to speculate whether this is good or bad, but is Non Aligned Movement Dead as far as India is concerned?

@AUSTERLITZ @SpArK @PARIKRAMA @Levina @Abingdonboy @Spectre @hellfire @scorpionx @nair

When Life Gives You LEMOA: Inside the Controversial US-Indian Military Agreement

As the US and India Defense Ministers prepare to sign a LEMOA treaty, which will enable the two country to use each other’s military bases, there is still a significant amount of confusion and controversy around the act. Manohar Parrikar, the Defense Minister of India, has left to the US to meet with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. This meeting is expected to end with signing of LEMOA act, a treaty which will enable the two countries to use each other's military infrastructure.
Interestingly, the media coverage description of the act is highly controversial. Forbes, for instance, is quick to say that LEMOA will enable "US armed forces… operate out of Indian bases." "The US Navy plans to deploy 60 percent of its surface ships in the Indo-Pacific in the near future. Instead of having to build facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US has the benefit of simple arrangements for the tremendous Indian facilities," Forbes's Charles Tiefer writes.

However, the Indian Defense ministry officials insist that no US troops will be deployed in India, and the bases will be used only for berthing or refueling of each other's warships.

"This pact that has been agreed in principle will only facilitate military logistics cooperation such as joint military exercises and did not entail stationing of any US troops on Indian soil," the officials said, adding that this agreement should not be viewed as a move by New Delhi to support Washington in forming any alliance against China.

Ironically, Forbes says exactly the opposite: President Barack Obama throws rose petals as he participates in a wreath laying ceremony at the Raj Ghat Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, New Delhi, India, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 © AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster US Fails to Drive a Wedge Between India and Its BRICS Partners "For Prime Minister Modi, it is a major step for India away from its Cold War alliance with Russia, toward a new alliance with the U.S. (and Japan and Australia) to protect the Indian Ocean and the seas off Southeast Asia, especially from China."

While it seems quite obvious that both sides aim to represent the agreement, which has previously caused a significant amount of controversy within Indian Parliament and has been delayed several times, as their own diplomatic victory, the experts also share different opinions on the issue.
Defense Analyst C Uday Bhaskar believes that it is "India's interest in the long term in terms of being able to obtain fuel and logistics at short notice."

"At a time when India needs to maintain its presence in the region, this is a useful traction for India," he says, adding that the agreement is unlikely to be binding in nature and India will always have the right to refuse assistance.

Strategic Affairs expert Bharat Karnad, however, thinks different, and even says that Prime Minister Modi has "lost what little strategic sense he may have started out with."

"India is set to lose its sovereign decision-making status and strategic independence", he says, adding that LEMOA will still mark India as a secondary power and American camp follower.

Karnad notes that stationing of US troops in India will cause "social turmoil" among Indian citizens and, should India be pulled into a conflict against its allies — China or Russia — it would be a "disaster". According to head of Cyber Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, Arun Mohan Sukumar, the Indian government should be very careful about this agreement and seek its own interest; otherwise it will have troubles "selling it at home".

"It is one thing for India to leverage the agreements to aid its role as a "net security provider" and another to be drawn into US-China rivalry in the region," he writes.

And, apparently, there is some strategic self-interest for India in this agreement, as, according to Dr. Rupakjyoti Borah, Research Fellow with Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, India seeks to sign the agreement before the US Presidential Elections in November. Noting that the victory of Donald Trump will likely hurt US-Indian ties, Borah says that "it makes perfect sense for New Delhi to make hay while the sun shines."

http://sputniknews.com/military/20160829/1044725072/lemoa-us-india-military-agreement.html

 

[4GTejasBVR]

And no body bloody cares what China and Pakistan thinks.

 

[PARIKRAMA]

There will be an attempt to paint that

• India is no more Non aligned and is a threat to China and Pakistan
• India Russia relationships are no more strategic and India is in process of joining a NATO alliance or at least will seek refuge in a closely bonded relationship with USA.
• Every visit and blossoming of relationship with either Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam and Japan will be viewed with suspicious eyes being overtly done by India and covertly supported by USA.
• There will be complete ignorance that such LSA in other forms exist between India and Russia, France , Israel etc
• This is an attempt to surround Pakistan and China both.
• Think tanks will term India as a Junior Alliance Partner

Indian Parliament will be up in arms that GOI did not take opinions nor discussed with all parties for such a decision of strategic parlance. Of course they will forget earlier ones were also never discussed or told.


Let me raise the temperature a bit more

Underwater surveillance... catch the drift ..

 

[anant_s]

China And Pakistan Should Note -- This Week, India And US Sign The LEMOA Pact

Charles Tiefer ,

Contributor

I cover government contracting, the Pentagon and Congress.

Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office with US President Barack Obama at the White House on June 7, 2016 in Washington, DC. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Around August 30, in Washington, India and the U.S. will sign the LEMOA pact that makes them logistical allies against, among others, the superpower China currently making a bold power grab in the South China Sea.

Specifically, Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar will sign the deal during a two-day visit in Washington. The deal is the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), a foundational agreement for India and the U.S.. In this instance, the agreement provides for each to use the other globally for supplies, spare parts, services and refueling. Effectively, U.S. armed forces can operate out of Indian bases, and vice versa, on a simple basis.

For the U.S., this is one part of the much larger “pivot” to Asia intended by President Obama to meet a rising China. The U.S. Navy plans to deploy 60 percent of its surface ships in the Indo-Pacific in the near future. Instead of having to build facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. has the benefit of simple arrangements for the tremendous Indian facilities.

For Prime Minister Modi, it is a one further step, part of a much broader move for India away from its Cold War alliance with Russia, toward a new alliance with the U.S. (and Japan and Australia) to protect the Indian Ocean and the seas off Southeast Asia, especially from China. India remains on hostile terms with China from border disputes dating back to a war in the 1960s. And, the gigantic engines of their economies are, for the most part, rivals.

For both the U.S. and India, LEMOA responds to the powerful challenge of Xi Jinping’s artificial islands – with air bases — in the South China Sea. It may also matter against the common enemy of the U.S. and India in radical jihadists.

For example, ISIS recently carried out a terror bombing in Bangladesh. What if ISIS got a substantial ground effort going, not as much as their “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, but on the substantial scale of their effort in Egyptian Sinai and Libya? Having LEMOA makes it much simpler for American naval and air forces to refuel, resupply, and so forth. The U.S. does not have actual bases in India. But, it has the next best thing – a simple way to use India’s bases.

LEMOA is the key way-station on agreements still to come of military technology sharing of tremendous importance for India, again, primarily to help it stand up to the emerging superpower of China. One upcoming deal is the Communications and Information Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA). Another, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Intelligence (BECA).

With prior pacts, thru LEMOA, ultimately to CISMOA and BECA, India increasingly can either buy (and use), from the U.S or others, or make itself, top-of-the-line technology for its air force and navy to stand up to China’s, particularly in the Indian Ocean. Pakistan, it must not be forgotten, is making itself a base for Beijing’s forces to operate in its region. Modi has made India a tremendous buyer of advanced weaponry. The U.S. is by far the world’s largest seller of weapons.
There are prior deals and policies here. The U.S. recognized India as a Major Defense Partner. It brought India into the Missile Technology Control Regime. Among other aspects, the various deals expedite India obtaining the keys to the kingdom, namely, licenses for top U.S. defense technology. In other words, U.S. contractors are getting, through LEMOA together with those more important prior deals, a much better launching pad from which to sell many billions of dollars of top-of-the-line armament to India. Conversely, India often requires a degree of coproduction domestically, so LEMOA and much more important other deals will help India grow as a gigantic weapons dealer itself, selling to the rest of the world.

All these arms matter in many friction points. Take the nasty Islamist terrorist organization, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM). Pakistan’s powerful and dangerous intelligence arm, ISI, uses JEM against India, but it is also among a group of organizations backed by ISI that the U.S. considers a U.S. enemy, too. JEM’s chief is Masood Azhar. India tried unsuccessfully to tag Azhar at the United Nations as a terrorist. Who blocked it? China. So while the South China Sea may seem far off from India, China is breathing down India’s neck, up close and personal

The U.S. did not make the bellicose move in the South China Sea. Xi Jinping did. There are many downsides to an arms races. But if we do not move, we lose. We have little choice but to play catchup.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/charles...ia-and-us-sign-major-war-pact/2/#55e8c48a4661

 

[Mo12]

So China wants to arm our rivals, then will go crying when we sign a small military pack with USA which can only be used in time of peace.

 

[4GTejasBVR]

US, India sign military logistics agreement

View attachment 330071




WASHINGTON: The United States and India signed an agreement+ on Monday governing the use of each other's land, air and naval bases for repair and resupply, a step toward building defence ties+ as they seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.

Welcoming the signing of the bilateral 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA), defence minister Manohar Parrikar and US defence secretary Ashton Carter said the pact will facilitate opportunities for "practical engagement and exchange".

LEMOA facilitates the provision of logistical support+ , supplies, and services between the US and Indian militaries on a reimbursable basis, and provides a framework to govern them.

"They agreed on the importance (that) this framework will provide to facilitate innovative and advanced opportunities in defence technology and trade cooperation. To this end, the US has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners," said a joint statement after the pact was signed.

According to the statement, the defence ties between the two countries is based on their "shared values and interests," and their "abiding commitment to global peace and security."

During their meeting, Parrikar and Carter discussed the "wealth of progress" in bilateral cooperation and deepening strategic partnership between the United States and India.

The US has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners.

A milestone in US-India defence ties

The agreement, a relatively mundane one concerning day-to-day military logistics, is nonetheless a milestone in the US-India defence relationship because of the outsized political importance it had taken on in India, where it had touched on domestic sensitivities, experts said.

The signing of the agreement will "make the logistics of joint operations so much easier and so much more efficient," US defence secretary Ash Carter said in a news briefing with defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday.

The agreement will allow the Indian and US navies to have an easier time supporting each other in joint operations and exercises and when providing humanitarian assistance, Parrikar said.

Washington's desire for deeper security cooperation with India had been complicated without the signing of the logistics agreement as well as two other pacts that would allow for secure communications and the exchange of nautical and other data. The agreements are considered routine between the United States and its other defence partners.

But India has had concerns such an agreement would commit it to hosting US troops at its bases, or draw it into a military alliance with the United States and undermine its traditional autonomy. Carter and Parrikar reached an agreement "in principle" in April, but had yet to finalize the details.

Carter has made closer military ties with India a priority, and established a special unit within the Pentagon last year to promote cooperation with that country. Parrikar's visit to Washington this week marks the sixth interaction between the two top defence officials.

The signing of the logistics agreement indicates the priority the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi places on a closer defence relationship with the United States, said Benjamin Schwartz, until last year the India country director at the Pentagon.

"For years, there has been tremendous misinformation put out into the Indian press about these agreements," said Schwartz, now with the US-India Business Council, which promotes trade ties between the two countries.

"What the signing of this shows is that the Modi government is willing to take and suffer the short-term political criticism of signing these things for the longer-term benefit of building the defence relationship with the United States."

Both Carter and Parrikar went to pains on Monday to make clear that the logistics agreement did not allow for basing of US troops in India.

"It's not a basing agreement of any kind," Carter said.

The debate over the logistics agreement had served as a vehicle for the distrust some of India's political class has towards the United States, said Shane Mason, a research associate at the Stimson Center. The United States had previously imposed sanctions on India related to its 1998 nuclear test, although the sanctions were eased later.

"From the US perspective this was kind of a low hanging fruit," Mason said. "We have logistic support agreements with many, many other countries and in most cases it's a relatively uncontroversial thing."

The US military has made clear it wants to do more with India, especially in countering China, which US officials say is risking stoking conflict through its claims in the South China Sea, a vital trade waterway.

Without naming China, both Carter and Parrikar mentioned the importance of the free flow of trade to both countries.

"India and the United States have a shared interest in freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce as part of rule-based order in (the) Indo-Pacific," Parrikar said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-logistics-agreement/articleshow/53921866.cms

@Joe Shearer
Sir, in contemporary time, this is closest India has ever been to US. I don't want to speculate whether this is good or bad, but is Non Aligned Movement Dead as far as India is concerned?

@AUSTERLITZ @SpArK @PARIKRAMA @Levina @Abingdonboy @Spectre @hellfire @scorpionx @nair

When Life Gives You LEMOA: Inside the Controversial US-Indian Military Agreement

View attachment 330072

As the US and India Defense Ministers prepare to sign a LEMOA treaty, which will enable the two country to use each other’s military bases, there is still a significant amount of confusion and controversy around the act. Manohar Parrikar, the Defense Minister of India, has left to the US to meet with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. This meeting is expected to end with signing of LEMOA act, a treaty which will enable the two countries to use each other's military infrastructure.
Interestingly, the media coverage description of the act is highly controversial. Forbes, for instance, is quick to say that LEMOA will enable "US armed forces… operate out of Indian bases." "The US Navy plans to deploy 60 percent of its surface ships in the Indo-Pacific in the near future. Instead of having to build facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US has the benefit of simple arrangements for the tremendous Indian facilities," Forbes's Charles Tiefer writes.

However, the Indian Defense ministry officials insist that no US troops will be deployed in India, and the bases will be used only for berthing or refueling of each other's warships.

Ironically, Forbes says exactly the opposite: President Barack Obama throws rose petals as he participates in a wreath laying ceremony at the Raj Ghat Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, New Delhi, India, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 © AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster US Fails to Drive a Wedge Between India and Its BRICS Partners "For Prime Minister Modi, it is a major step for India away from its Cold War alliance with Russia, toward a new alliance with the U.S. (and Japan and Australia) to protect the Indian Ocean and the seas off Southeast Asia, especially from China."

While it seems quite obvious that both sides aim to represent the agreement, which has previously caused a significant amount of controversy within Indian Parliament and has been delayed several times, as their own diplomatic victory, the experts also share different opinions on the issue.
Defense Analyst C Uday Bhaskar believes that it is "India's interest in the long term in terms of being able to obtain fuel and logistics at short notice."


Strategic Affairs expert Bharat Karnad, however, thinks different, and even says that Prime Minister Modi has "lost what little strategic sense he may have started out with."

Karnad notes that stationing of US troops in India will cause "social turmoil" among Indian citizens and, should India be pulled into a conflict against its allies — China or Russia — it would be a "disaster". According to head of Cyber Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, Arun Mohan Sukumar, the Indian government should be very careful about this agreement and seek its own interest; otherwise it will have troubles "selling it at home".



And, apparently, there is some strategic self-interest for India in this agreement, as, according to Dr. Rupakjyoti Borah, Research Fellow with Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, India seeks to sign the agreement before the US Presidential Elections in November. Noting that the victory of Donald Trump will likely hurt US-Indian ties, Borah says that "it makes perfect sense for New Delhi to make hay while the sun shines."

http://sputniknews.com/military/20160829/1044725072/lemoa-us-india-military-agreement.html

In simple terms US will deploy allied troops to protect Indian interest and support India with almost need of war. Means Pakistan and China can't think about two front war. Indo Pak war will be unilateral. To keep US away from the conflict

 

[barbarosa]

In simple terms US will deploy allied troops to protect Indian interest and support India with almost need of war. Means Pakistan and China can't think about two front war. Indo Pak war will be unilateral. To keep US away from the conflict

I think India and Pakistan are going to battle field for both powers.

 

[anant_s]

In simple terms US will deploy allied troops to protect Indian interest and support India with almost need of war. Means Pakistan and China can't think about two front war. Indo Pak war will be unilateral. To keep US away from the conflict

I'm not very clear but atleast on records, it is categorically stated that troops won't be posted, so essentially there are no bases and hence no permanent presence.
But yes, how does this pact translate in times of conflict, remains to be seen.
At this moment, MTCR and LEMOA gives India, an unprecedented access to technology which was hitherto not available.
I do recall about 10-12 months back when @PARIKRAMA used to mention the kind of deals that were offered by US defence contractors to India and honestly i was in doubts. However in terms of diplomatic time scale, things have moved very quickly and as things stand today, those offers by US companies can actually materialize, should India choose to.

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

Could irk China and Pak ???

Isnt This the plan to begin with ?

 

[enquencher]

There is not going to be war between ne one.only sucide.

 

[Hellfire]

So China wants to arm our rivals, then will go crying when we sign a small military pack with USA which can only be used in time of peace.

You couldnt come up with a better id than Mo12? As well paint IW also

 

[Mo12]

I think India and Pakistan are going to battle field for both powers.

India can take it Pakistan with just its Navy and Airforce, with geography helping India.

USA, Japan, Korea etc can take on China by it self.

yes I am dreaming btw

 

[Joe Shearer]

US, India sign military logistics agreement

View attachment 330071




WASHINGTON: The United States and India signed an agreement+ on Monday governing the use of each other's land, air and naval bases for repair and resupply, a step toward building defence ties+ as they seek to counter the growing maritime assertiveness of China.

Welcoming the signing of the bilateral 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA), defence minister Manohar Parrikar and US defence secretary Ashton Carter said the pact will facilitate opportunities for "practical engagement and exchange".

LEMOA facilitates the provision of logistical support+ , supplies, and services between the US and Indian militaries on a reimbursable basis, and provides a framework to govern them.

"They agreed on the importance (that) this framework will provide to facilitate innovative and advanced opportunities in defence technology and trade cooperation. To this end, the US has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners," said a joint statement after the pact was signed.

According to the statement, the defence ties between the two countries is based on their "shared values and interests," and their "abiding commitment to global peace and security."

During their meeting, Parrikar and Carter discussed the "wealth of progress" in bilateral cooperation and deepening strategic partnership between the United States and India.

The US has agreed to elevate defence trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners.

A milestone in US-India defence ties

The agreement, a relatively mundane one concerning day-to-day military logistics, is nonetheless a milestone in the US-India defence relationship because of the outsized political importance it had taken on in India, where it had touched on domestic sensitivities, experts said.

The signing of the agreement will "make the logistics of joint operations so much easier and so much more efficient," US defence secretary Ash Carter said in a news briefing with defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday.

The agreement will allow the Indian and US navies to have an easier time supporting each other in joint operations and exercises and when providing humanitarian assistance, Parrikar said.

Washington's desire for deeper security cooperation with India had been complicated without the signing of the logistics agreement as well as two other pacts that would allow for secure communications and the exchange of nautical and other data. The agreements are considered routine between the United States and its other defence partners.

But India has had concerns such an agreement would commit it to hosting US troops at its bases, or draw it into a military alliance with the United States and undermine its traditional autonomy. Carter and Parrikar reached an agreement "in principle" in April, but had yet to finalize the details.

Carter has made closer military ties with India a priority, and established a special unit within the Pentagon last year to promote cooperation with that country. Parrikar's visit to Washington this week marks the sixth interaction between the two top defence officials.

The signing of the logistics agreement indicates the priority the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi places on a closer defence relationship with the United States, said Benjamin Schwartz, until last year the India country director at the Pentagon.

"For years, there has been tremendous misinformation put out into the Indian press about these agreements," said Schwartz, now with the US-India Business Council, which promotes trade ties between the two countries.

"What the signing of this shows is that the Modi government is willing to take and suffer the short-term political criticism of signing these things for the longer-term benefit of building the defence relationship with the United States."

Both Carter and Parrikar went to pains on Monday to make clear that the logistics agreement did not allow for basing of US troops in India.

"It's not a basing agreement of any kind," Carter said.

The debate over the logistics agreement had served as a vehicle for the distrust some of India's political class has towards the United States, said Shane Mason, a research associate at the Stimson Center. The United States had previously imposed sanctions on India related to its 1998 nuclear test, although the sanctions were eased later.

"From the US perspective this was kind of a low hanging fruit," Mason said. "We have logistic support agreements with many, many other countries and in most cases it's a relatively uncontroversial thing."

The US military has made clear it wants to do more with India, especially in countering China, which US officials say is risking stoking conflict through its claims in the South China Sea, a vital trade waterway.

Without naming China, both Carter and Parrikar mentioned the importance of the free flow of trade to both countries.

"India and the United States have a shared interest in freedom of navigation and overflight and unimpeded commerce as part of rule-based order in (the) Indo-Pacific," Parrikar said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...-logistics-agreement/articleshow/53921866.cms

@Joe Shearer
Sir, in contemporary time, this is closest India has ever been to US. I don't want to speculate whether this is good or bad, but is Non Aligned Movement Dead as far as India is concerned?

That is one reason why I feel very gloomy about this.

We got nothing and gave away everything.

@AUSTERLITZ @SpArK @PARIKRAMA @Levina @Abingdonboy @Spectre @hellfire @scorpionx @nair

When Life Gives You LEMOA: Inside the Controversial US-Indian Military Agreement

View attachment 330072

As the US and India Defense Ministers prepare to sign a LEMOA treaty, which will enable the two country to use each other’s military bases, there is still a significant amount of confusion and controversy around the act. Manohar Parrikar, the Defense Minister of India, has left to the US to meet with US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. This meeting is expected to end with signing of LEMOA act, a treaty which will enable the two countries to use each other's military infrastructure.
Interestingly, the media coverage description of the act is highly controversial. Forbes, for instance, is quick to say that LEMOA will enable "US armed forces… operate out of Indian bases." "The US Navy plans to deploy 60 percent of its surface ships in the Indo-Pacific in the near future. Instead of having to build facilities virtually from the ground up, as in Afghanistan and Iraq, the US has the benefit of simple arrangements for the tremendous Indian facilities," Forbes's Charles Tiefer writes.

However, the Indian Defense ministry officials insist that no US troops will be deployed in India, and the bases will be used only for berthing or refueling of each other's warships.

Ironically, Forbes says exactly the opposite: President Barack Obama throws rose petals as he participates in a wreath laying ceremony at the Raj Ghat Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, New Delhi, India, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015 © AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster US Fails to Drive a Wedge Between India and Its BRICS Partners "For Prime Minister Modi, it is a major step for India away from its Cold War alliance with Russia, toward a new alliance with the U.S. (and Japan and Australia) to protect the Indian Ocean and the seas off Southeast Asia, especially from China."

While it seems quite obvious that both sides aim to represent the agreement, which has previously caused a significant amount of controversy within Indian Parliament and has been delayed several times, as their own diplomatic victory, the experts also share different opinions on the issue.
Defense Analyst C Uday Bhaskar believes that it is "India's interest in the long term in terms of being able to obtain fuel and logistics at short notice."


Strategic Affairs expert Bharat Karnad, however, thinks different, and even says that Prime Minister Modi has "lost what little strategic sense he may have started out with."

Karnad notes that stationing of US troops in India will cause "social turmoil" among Indian citizens and, should India be pulled into a conflict against its allies — China or Russia — it would be a "disaster". According to head of Cyber Initiative at the Observer Research Foundation, Arun Mohan Sukumar, the Indian government should be very careful about this agreement and seek its own interest; otherwise it will have troubles "selling it at home".



And, apparently, there is some strategic self-interest for India in this agreement, as, according to Dr. Rupakjyoti Borah, Research Fellow with Japan Forum for Strategic Studies, India seeks to sign the agreement before the US Presidential Elections in November. Noting that the victory of Donald Trump will likely hurt US-Indian ties, Borah says that "it makes perfect sense for New Delhi to make hay while the sun shines."

http://sputniknews.com/military/20160829/1044725072/lemoa-us-india-military-agreement.html

Now Modi has the Sankranti syndrome.

If kicked sufficiently hard by someone whom you secretly admire and aspire to be acknowledged by, you keep coming back after each kick, and trying to worm your way into the good books of that entity. If he had not been denied a visa, if he had not been kept out meticulously before he came to power, would we have seen this complete abandonment to the beloved?

 

[nair]

We got nothing and gave away everything.

You are right there is hardly anything we gained from this.......What could be the positives??? I dont see any direct, may be the govt gave away this for something indirect?