India, US agree to sign logistics support pact

India and United States have agreed to sign Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) to ramp up bilateral defence ties.
In this regard, an announcement was made by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter after delegation-level talks between two sides. Ashton Carter was on three day official visit to India.
By signing LEMOA, both countries will be able to have access to each other’s logistics support along with refuelling and berthing facilities.
LEMOA is one of the three foundational agreements that guide US high technology cooperation with other countries. Other two are Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
Both countries will also sign two other agreements that will allow the two militaries to work in closer coordination with each other.
Besides, India and US also announced the launch of two dialogues (i) Between the two navies on submarine safety and anti-submarine warfare, (ii) Maritime security dialogue between officials of the defence and foreign ministries of the two countries.
They also concluded an agreement to improve maritime domain awareness with an arrangement to improve sharing of data on commercial shipping traffic.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016