by Mayuri Mukherjee
A strong defence relationship with the US is in India’s interest especially as it seeks to reiterate its position in the Indian Ocean region. Ideologically-motivated opposition mostly from the Left must be countered with a dose of realpolitik
US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s three-day trip to India ended on Wednesday with both countries announcing progress in some technology-sharing programmes but falling short on some key issues such as the joint development of a Indian aircraft carrier and the signing of at least one of the three so-called ‘foundational documents’ necessary to enhance bilateral defence cooperation. This, in a sense, encapsulates the state of the India-US defence relationship: While huge strides have been made, particularly in this decade, a lot more needs to be done to realise its full potential. In some cases, the bottlenecks are technical or bureaucratic and need time to be resolved. But in most others, the hold-up stems from political or ideological reasons. This is particularly the case for the three foundational documents, which the US says will help strengthen bilateral defence cooperation but which India has resisted for more than a decade.
After 10 years of debate and discussion, only one of these, the Logistics Supply Agreement, has now been finalised, according to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar. And even that agreement is yet to be signed and no firm commitments have been made, although it has been reported that the officials may sign on the dotted line any time within a few weeks to a few months. This has already generated a colourful array of headlines on how the US military will now use Indian bases, not to mention the slew of think pieces that came out in the run up to Carter’s visit, chiding the Modi Government for falling into America’s embrace, discarding Delhi’s long held principles of non-alignment, and putting India on a dangerous collision course with old friends like Russia and powerful adversaries like China. One may even be forgiven for assuming that the agreement is some sort of a path-breaking initiative that will change the India-US dynamic. Yet, the agreement is actually a standard document that the US has signed with some 80 countries including its Nato partners as well as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Basically, it allows both parties to easily berth and re-fuel at each other’s bases without having to pay for these services every time. Such an arrangement is particularly convenient during joint military exercises (which the US and India have quite often), large multi-national operations such as the search for MH370, and also during multi-national humanitarian relief operations.
The last one, in fact, is a big consideration. In recent years, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief has become an important element for the Indian military and is a wonderful tool for this country’s power projection in the Indian Ocean region. The 2004 tsunami relief operation during which India deployed 32 naval ships, seven aircraft and 20 helicopters over five rescue, relief and reconstruction missions that extended not only to its own affected States but also to Maldives (Operation Castor), Sri Lanka (Operation Rainbow), and Indonesia (Operation Gambhir) was the turning point. After the tsunami, India bolstered its HADR capabilities by acquiring a landing platform dock, INS Jalashwa, from the US in 2007.
In between, in 2006, the Indian Navy launched Operation Sukoon to evacuate Indian, Sri Lankan and Nepalese citizens from Lebanon. In 2008, INS Rana and INS Kirpan were sent with aid to Myanmar after the devastating Cyclone Nargis. This was followed by Operation Safe Homecoming in Libya in 2011. INS Mysore, INS Aditya and INS Jalashwa brought thousands of Indians from Benghazi and Tripoli to Alexandria in Egypt from where they were flow back home by Air India. In 2013, when Typhoon Haiyan flattened large parts of the Philippines, the Indian Navy sent out a war ship with relief material. And then, of course, when Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared, both the Indian Navy and the Air Force participated in the global hunt. Last year, both were also involved in the evacuation of Indian nationals from Yemen (Operation Rahat), not to mention Indian assistance to the Maldives during the Male water crisis.
Now, some media reports have portrayed the LSA as a first of its kind arrangement, while the Opposition is already whipping up images of American soldiers overrunning Indian bases. The Left’s criticism doesn’t even deserve to be entertained because it is a template response to all things America. From the Congress, former Defence Minister AK Antony, who did precious little to ensure the military’s war preparedness, has now labeled the agreement as “anti-national”. This is absurd. American sailors and airmen already dock at Indian ports and access Indian resources. The agreement will only institutionalise such cooperation and put most of it on auto-pilot.
This also has raised concerns in some quarters: If America goes to war (especially against a country that is friendly with India), then India will be obligated to support its war-time efforts. In response, Defence Minister Parrikar has assured that the LSA has been tweaked the new pact is called the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement so that Indian autonomy is not comprised. Also, it is worthwhile to recall that during the 1991 Gulf War, India had allowed US planes on their way to Iraq to refuel at Bombay’s Safar airport and others. And this was a generation before India and the US were to forge the defining partnership of the 21st century.
Coming back to the agreements, the second in line is the Communication and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement which will essentially improve interoperability between the two militaries. This will be a big plus during joint military operations which, again, is not necessarily a reference to war but includes anti-piracy efforts as well. Moreover, CISMOA will pave the way for Indian access to US defence high-tech. For example, had India signed the CISMOA earlier, its Boeing P-8I Poseidon multi-mission maritime aircraft (which was used to hunt for MH370) would have come equipped with the most advanced communication equipment. Now, it is true that India has been able to make the platform work well with indigenously developed hardware, but that’s hardly a reason to be deprived of the best technology in the market. CISMOA critics argue that agreement would expose sensitive Indian communications to the Americans. This is both defeatist, as clauses are built into the agreement to protect such information, as well somewhat silly: If the US, back in 1998, could hack into the Israeli Air Force system, one of the most advanced defence systems in the world, then it doesn’t need a bilateral agreement to get inside Indian systems.
The third agreement is the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement which will improve ease of access to geospatial data such as satellite images, maps and charts. This is possibly the most contentious as it supposedly involves ‘sovereignty issues’ (for example, ground sensors). Yet, the benefits of this agreement are manifold especially in multi-nation operations as well as in civilian operations. Now, India is also developing its own geo-satellite system called the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. However, this isn’t fully operational yet and will only have limited coverage.
In the final tally, India needn’t sign America’s template documents; instead, as it has done with the LSA, it should work with the US (which is also open to addressing Indian concerns) and find the middle path that best suits its interests. But as mentioned earlier, the problem isn’t technical but political Will China be upset? Will Russia complain? Maybe they will but if Sri Lanka can sign the LSA and still be wooed by Beijing, and Russia sell helicopters to Pakistan because India has been buying hardware from the US and Israel, then there is no reason why India can’t sign an agreement that strengthens its military ties with the US while still maintaining its ties with other powers. Ultimately, all nations work in their own self-interest. India should too.
