United States is not looking to work out a defence deal, but a strategic partnership with India during president Barack Obama’s visit. Washington is looking at India to play a larger role in Asia, particularly in east Asia.
United States is not looking to work out a defence deal, but a strategic partnership with India during president Barack Obama’s visit. Washington is looking at India to play a larger role in Asia, particularly in east Asia.
At least, this was what came through when US embassy officials spoke to DNA on Monday. “The partnership has moved on. US is looking at India’s role not just in South Asia, but in Asia as a whole, particularly the east. We’re not looking at a defence pact, but at a strategic partnership, we are trying to develop an understanding how to work more closely,” a senior US embassy official said.
Defence minister AK Antony had said earlier in the day, “Deals are not linked to visits, though the C-17 transport aircraft deal is in its final stages, but we’re not sure it will be signed.”
The deal for 10 C-17 Globemaster-III heavy transport aircraft is in the final stages of being concluded. The first of the six C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft, under foreign military sale (FMS), will join the Indian Air Force in February 2011. Maritime reconnaissance aircraft P8i will join the Indian Navy around the same time it joins the US Navy, in 2013. The deal for eight P8i aircraft was signed in January 2009. Last week, two M777 ultra-light howitzers arrived in India from the US for field trials. Another 145 such howitzers would be bought in through the FMS route.
In the run-up to the Obama visit, embassy officials said, “India is the largest trading partner of the US, and the sales relationship is more of a partnership, not transactional.”
Explaining how the Indo-US relationship has moved ahead, officials pointed out that the US has had more joint exercises with India than any other nation, and 50 of these have been held in the past eight years. In the past year-and-a-half years, prime minister Manmohan Singh and president Obama have met eight times.
As part of this partnership, India and US are likely to discuss strategic cooperation, Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and counter-terrorism. They are also likely to take up pending agreements such as Cismoa, Beca and LSA.
The US wants Delhi to sign a pact guaranteeing secrecy and consensual use of US-made aircraft and communications systems before they are sold for use by India’s armed forces. The pact, called Cismoa (Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement), is designed to certify that the equipment are “inter-operable” — that is they can be used by the two forces in joint operations. The LSA (Logistics Support Agreement) for India is designed to give Indian and US ships and aircraft access to each others’ facilities (such as ports and airfields) for refuelling and refurbishment through a barter system. US officials said these deals are not meant to offend anyone but share best practices and make logistics easier.
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