India, US may likely sign two more pacts

India and the United States acknowledged the benefits of “enabling defence agreements” inked by both sides— fueling speculations that two more similar pacts are likely to be signed soon, in addition to the two already concluded.

The 15th meeting of India-US Defence Policy Group in Washington D.C. saw both sides reviewing progress made in various fields of military cooperation in recent years.

Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra led the delegation from India while the US delegation was led by American Under Secretary of Defence for Policy, John Rood.

They took note of the increasing cooperation in “defence trade, technology, procurement, industry, R&D and military-to-military engagement”, according to a press release issued after the meeting.

Both sides recognized the benefit of enabling defence agreements concluded by the two sides.

India and the US signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) when the two sides held the first 2+2 dialogue in New Delhi in September 2018.

The COMCASA was signed to facilitate access to advanced defence systems and enable India to optimally utilize its existing military hardware sourced from the US.

It was one of the four “foundational pacts”, which Washington D.C. had since long been nudging New Delhi to sign, promising that they would make it easier for India to access advanced defence technologies from the US.

India signed the first such pact— Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement or the LEMOA— in 2016.

The LEMOA made it obligatory for both India and the US to support each other's aircraft, ships, and personnel with logistics, fuel, and spares.

Sources said that India and the US might also make a move soon to clinch the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for geospatial ties and Industrial Security Annex (ISA), which would support closer defence industry cooperation and collaboration between the two nations.

Mitra and Rood agreed on the importance of collaboration between the defence industry and start-ups in the two countries and agreed to pursue a policy environment conducive for such collaboration.

The erstwhile Congress-led government in New Delhi resisted pressure from the US to sign the four agreements, ostensibly due to concerns that they would severely compromise the strategic autonomy of India.

The negotiations between India and the US over the agreements, however, gained momentum after the BJP-led government headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi first took office in New Delhi in 2014.