AT 2+2 DIALOGUE, INDIA, US SIGN KEY DEFENCE PACT
US REITERATES SUPPORT FOR INDIA’S IMMEDIATE ACCESSION TO NUCLEAR SUPPLIERS GROUP AS A FULL MEMBER
Aftermorethan a decade of discussion and negotiation, India andthe US signed a far-reaching communications compatibility and security arrangement
(COMCASA) as part of the first US-India 2+2 dialogue. In the absence of COM CA SA, which now binds India to ensure the security and secrecy of US communications equipment, US platforms like the C -130 J Super Hercules Special Forces plane and the Boeing P -8 I maritime aircraft were bought with their closely-guarded communications and navigation kits replaced by less potent, commercially-available equipment.
After more than a decade of discussions and negotiations, India and the US on Thursday signed a “communications compatibility and security arrangement” (Comcasa) as part of the first “2+2” dialogue featuring foreign and defence ministers of both nations.
In the absence of a Comcasa, which now binds India to ensure the security and secrecy of cutting-edge US communications equipment, US’ C-130J Super Hercules Special Forces plane and the Boeing P-8I maritime aircraft were bought with their closely guarded communications and navigation kits replaced by less potent, commercially-available equipment.
The two nations also decided to set up hotlines between their defence and foreign ministers and deliberated on thorny issues such as India’s Comcasa, fearing it would be purchase of S-400 missiles seen as bowing down to US pressure. from Russia and import of However, the government crude oil from Iran. According has now concluded that the to a Reuters report, operational benefits outweigh Washington will consider the potential political downside. waivers for Iranian oil buyers A senior defence ministry such as India but they must official briefed journalists and eventually halt imports as claimed Indian interests were sanctions are imposed on not compromised. He said the Tehran, US Secretary of State text of the deal, while classified, Mike Pompeo said. was specially negotiated
Pompeo and US Defence for India, with New Delhi Secretary James Mattis met refusing to sign the standard Indian External Affairs Minister text that many other countries Sushma Swaraj and Defence had. He stated that Comcasa Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. did not bind India to buying The two sides also discussed US weaponry. cross-border terrorism, India’s The agreement, valid for 10 bid for membership of the years, is “platform-specific” Nuclear Suppliers Group, the and will “enable us to derive contentious H1B visa issue, and optimal use of US weapons ways to deepen cooperation in platforms,” said the official. the Indo-Pacific region. To assuage Indian concerns
Both the United Progressive that Washington might deactivate Alliance and the National Comcasa-safeguarded Democratic Alliance governments equipment were in reluctant the event to sign of India undertaking an operation the US did not subscribe to. The agreement specifies that the US will ensure the equipment would remain operational at all times, he said.
Comcasa is the second socalled “foundational agreements” that India has signed, after inking the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement in 2016. In the joint statement issued on Thursday, the two sides “announced their readiness to begin negotiations on an Industrial Security Annex that would support closer defence industry cooperation and collaboration”.
With the US military already doing more exercises with the Indian army, navy and air force than with any other country, the two sides “committed to the creation of a new, tri-services exercise and to further increase personnel exchanges between the two militaries and defence organisations.”
So far, India’s military has conducted tri-service exercises only with the Russian military. However, partly due to language constraints, the IndoRussian exercises have been largely symbolic and — such as the annual Malabar naval exercises that began as a USIndia exercise and then evolved into a trilateral exercise that includes Japan — the tri-service Indo-US exercises can be expected to quickly overhaul the India-Russia exercise in sophistication and operational value.
To enhance their joint surveillance over the Indian Ocean, it was agreed that liaison officers would be cross-posted between the Indian Navy and the US Naval Forces Central Command, based in Bahrain.