{"id":14506,"date":"2021-03-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/23-03-2021\/india-us-defence-cooperation\/"},"modified":"2024-08-16T19:33:48","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T14:03:48","slug":"india-us-defence-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/23-03-2021\/india-us-defence-cooperation","title":{"rendered":"India-US Defence Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In News<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Recently, India has resolved to <strong>intensify defence cooperation with the US\u2019s<\/strong> Central Command in <strong>Florida <\/strong>and with the Commands in the<strong> Indo-Pacific region <\/strong>and <strong>Africa<\/strong>, during the US Secretary of Defense\u2019s visit to India.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The bilateral discussion covered military-to-military engagement across services, information sharing, cooperation in emerging sectors of defence and mutual logistics support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Key Highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Foundational Agreements<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Both countries acknowledged the foundational defence agreements like the <strong>Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement<\/strong> (LEMOA), the <strong>Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement<\/strong> (COMCASA) and the <strong>Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation<\/strong> (BECA).<\/li>\n<li>They discussed steps to be taken to realise their full potential for mutual benefit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Russian S-400 Missile<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The visit is crucial as it comes in the midst of expectations that the US is likely to take some action over India\u2019s plans to acquire the <strong>Russian S-400 missile defence system<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>It could attract US sanctions under <strong>Countering America&#8217;s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act<\/strong> (CAATSA).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>China and Indo-Pacific<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>China\u2019s growing military activities in the South China Sea region is a concern for both India and the US.<\/li>\n<li>India stands for freedom of navigation and freedom of overflight, unimpeded lawful commerce and adherence to international law which is a resounding affirmation of its shared vision for regional security in the Indo-Pacific.<\/li>\n<li>The growing India-US defence partnership is a stronghold of a free and open Indo-Pacific.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quadrilateral Framework (QUAD): <\/strong>India and the US along with Japan and Australia emphasise the collective resolve to maintain a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Afghanistan Peace Process<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>In Afghanistan, the discussions are underway over whether the US will stick to its 1st May deadline to pull out all remaining troops and how it will proceed forward in the Intra-Afghan dialogue.<\/li>\n<li>In the process, it is important that India expresses its sense of the situation in Afghanistan, given its important role there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Military Exercises<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Both countries reviewed the wide gamut of bilateral and multilateral exercises and agreed to pursue enhanced cooperation.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Malabar:<\/strong> Naval exercise among India, US and Japan.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yudh Abhyas: <\/strong>Army exercise between India and the US.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-traditional Challenges and FDI<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Both sides also discussed non-traditional challenges like oil spills and environmental disasters, drug trafficking, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing as well.<\/li>\n<li>India also welcomed the US industries to take advantage of India\u2019s liberalised Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies in the defence sector.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Significance<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The India-US partnership is a \u201ccentral pillar\u201d of the American policy for greater maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.<\/li>\n<li>India in particular is an increasingly important partner among today\u2019s rapidly shifting international dynamics and the US reaffirms its commitment to a comprehensive and forward-looking defence partnership with India.<\/li>\n<li>The warm and close relationship between the two countries is rooted in shared values of democracy, pluralism and commitment to a rules-based order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table style=\"width: 735px;\" border=\"1\" cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"vertical-align: top; width: 468.0pt;\"><strong>India-US Defence Agreements<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In <strong>2016<\/strong>, the <strong>US had designated India<\/strong> a \u201c<strong>Major Defence Partner<\/strong>\u201d intending to elevate defence trade and technology sharing to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.<\/li>\n<li>The agreements, General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), LEMOA, Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and BECA, are referred to as the<strong> foundational agreements<\/strong> which the US signs with countries with which it has close military ties.<\/li>\n<li><strong>General Security of Military Information Agreement<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was signed in 2002.<\/li>\n<li>It provides for specific measures to ensure security standards for safeguarding critical information shared by the US with India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The two countries inked LEMOA in 2016.<\/li>\n<li>It allows their militaries to use each other\u2019s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provide for deeper cooperation.<\/li>\n<li>This is not a basing agreement and is purely a logistical agreement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Both countries signed it in 2018.<\/li>\n<li>It provides for interoperability between the two militaries and provides for the sale of high-end technology from the US to India.<\/li>\n<li>It is an India-specific version of the CISMOA.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>It was signed in 2020.<\/li>\n<li>It gives India access to classified geospatial data as well as critical information having significant military applications from the US.<\/li>\n<li>The geospatial information will significantly improve the accuracy of India\u2019s missiles for targeted precision strikes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Countering America\u2019s Adversaries Through the Sanctions Act<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It is a federal law and was enacted in August 2017.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objective:<\/strong> Counter the aggression by Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures i.e. imposing sanctions.<\/li>\n<li>It has <strong>12 types of sanctions<\/strong> and two of the <strong>most stringent <\/strong>ones are\n<ul>\n<li>Suspension of export licences related to munitions, dual-use and nuclear-related items.<\/li>\n<li>Ban on American investment in equity\/debt of the sanctioned person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In <strong>2018<\/strong>, the US President was given the <strong>authority to waive the sanctions<\/strong> on a case-by-case basis as part of the <strong>National Defense Authorization Act <\/strong>(NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019.<\/li>\n<li>In <strong>December 2020,<\/strong> the <strong>US imposed sanctions on Turkey <\/strong>for its purchase of Russia\u2019s S-400 missile defence system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/rajnath-singh-holds-talks-with-us-def-secretary-austin\/article34115821.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TH<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News Recently, India has resolved to intensify defence cooperation with the US\u2019s Central Command in Florida and with the Commands in the Indo-Pacific region and Africa, during the US Secretary of Defense\u2019s visit to India. The bilateral discussion covered military-to-military engagement across services, information sharing, cooperation in emerging sectors of defence and mutual logistics [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[56,57,30,34],"class_list":["post-14506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-agreements-involving-india-or-affecting-indias-interests","tag-effect-of-policies-politics-of-developed-developing-countries-on-indias-interests","tag-gs-2","tag-india-foreign-relations"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/36650616268277current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14506"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27411,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14506\/revisions\/27411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}