NEW DELHI: The US has redoubled its efforts to get India on board a quadrilateral security dialogue in the Asia Pacific region, geared towards countering China's assertiveness in the region, as well as ink bilateral "foundational" military pacts.
The previous UPA regime, especially the then defence minister AK Antony, had repeatedly rebuffed such overtures. But Washington now feels it's making some inroads with the Modi-led NDA government, with a bilateral military logistics pact now being on the table when US defence secretary Ash Carter holds talks with his counterpart Manohar Parrikar here next month.
Washington has been pushing the "foundational agreements" like the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) for well over a decade now.
While the defence ministry is still not fully convinced about BECA and CISMOA, sources say the LSA is on course to being finalized between the two sides. Modelled on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements the US has inked with scores of countries, the LSA envisages the two militaries providing logistic support, refuelling and berthing facilities for each other's warships and aircraft on a barter or an equal-value exchange basis. "It can be done on a case-to-case basis," said a source.
Ahead of Carter's visit, waxing eloquent on the expanding India-US strategic partnership during the "Raisina Dialogue" here on Wednesday, visiting Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris said, "One idea to consider is initiating a quad-lateral security dialogue among India-Japan-Australia and the US."
Such a security construct has riled China in the past, especially after the 2007 Malabar naval exercise between India and the US was expanded to include Japan, Australia and Singapore as well in the Bay of Bengal.
Beijing saw it as an emerging security axis to "contain" it in Asia-Pacific. But that did not deter the Modi government from inviting Japan to participate in the Malabar exercise in the Bay of Bengal yet again last year.
"Exercising together will lead to operating together. By being ambitious, India, Japan, Australia, the US and so many other like-minded nations can aspire to patrol together anywhere," said Admiral Harris, adding that he echoed the US ambassador Richard Verma's vision that the American and Indian navies would "steam together" in Asia-Pacific in "the not too distant future".
"Together, we can develop a roadmap that leverages our respective efforts to improve the security architecture and strengthen regional dialogues. Together, we can ensure free and open sea lanes of communication that are critical for global trade and prosperity," he said, taking a swipe at China's aggressive behavior in the contentious South China Sea.
Talking about the US military hardware and software that India is acquiring, Admiral Harris said: "We have overhauled our approach to defence licensing to India with a presumption of approval for the vast majority of sophisticated platforms."
"Our offers to provide Indian forces with Apache attack helicopters — the most advanced in the US inventory — Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and M-777 howitzers are akin to our defence relationships with our closest NATO allies," he added.