Washington upset after Boeing and Lockheed Martin knocked out of race for combat aircraft
As the dust over rejection of two U.S. companies from the Rs. 11,000-crore Indian Air Force tender for fighter aircraft settles, official sources said the United States would also have to reconcile with India's unwillingness to sign three military pacts.
The U.S. was extremely upset after Boeing and Lockheed Martin were knocked out of the race for the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA).
The issue figured in the May 9 conversation between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama after the U.S. Embassy contended that the evaluation was not transparent.
The final report listed some qualitative requirements not met by the U.S. companies. But Washington claimed that these deficiencies were not mentioned in the initial report.
However, India has been unwavering in backing the evaluation of some 600 qualitative requirements of the six fighters in contention.
While the U.S. was denied a strategic foothold in the IAF's offensive capabilities segment, it could face continued stonewalling with respect to three military pacts — Logistics Sharing Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
The Indian attitude a month ahead of the strategic dialogue between External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is to keep the issue away from the main agenda.
No hidden objective
The U.S. argues that there is no hidden aim behind the LSA. It is an inter-bank type of clearing arrangement — there will be periodical settlement of accounts for the use of each other's facilities.
For instance, Indian naval ships have had 45 refuellings from the U.S. ships in the Gulf of Aden. Under the LSA, payments need not be made each time. The expenses could be adjusted against the money owed to India if U.S. ships came calling here.
But the Indian leadership feels that the LSA will give the impression of a strategic agreement with the Pentagon in military operations.
After the Defence-Secretary level Defence Policy Group (DPG) meeting in Washington earlier this year, both sides agreed to work towards a more “mature arrangement.'' But there was no “question of a blanket agreement,'' said the official sources.
India confronts a technical issue in signing the CISMOA, though officials feel it sounds heavier than it is. They also feel that interoperability, as argued by the U.S., need not be dependent on signing the CISMOA.
The communication will be encrypted and no other algorithm can be used on the system. During joint exercises, U.S. personnel sit on Indian ships with their own equipment.
But on aircraft there is no space for two or three different kinds of equipment.
The Navy and the Air Force have said they had no problems either way but politically this remains a sensitive issue though officials say it is not as heavy as it sounds.
India also has reservations on the third military agreement sought by the U.S. — BECA. The U.S. says the pact will enable C-130 and C-17 planes to fly close to the ground.
This entails installation of ground sensors, which none in the security establishment, except the Defence Research & Development Organisation is keen on.
Keywords: India-U.S. military ties
Remember how destructive non aligned movement was for our national security ? Indira Gandhi had to run to Russia for help. It is true that India is a great country, but we need to have a good relationship with many great countries. Developed nations like USA will be a great partner/ally. We also need to have a good relationship with all our neighbors, including China. We should have a good dialogue with the Chinese. Also, just because I agree with the Microsoft's End user agreement, I do not automatically become Microsoft's puppet. Similarly, I don't
think that India will loose it's independence by signing these
agreements. Even if we violate some obscure clauses in these
agreements, I don't think Obama will declare a war on our country.
I am not sure why India is refusing to sign those agreements.
Indian Navy should follow MMRCA procurement model for expanding the Naval Air Power. US can learn from it's failure in IAF MMRCA, and offer improved candidate deal for IN MMRCA, which seems to be in the pipeline as of yet.
India did the right thing by not short listing the two two US company because US is singing only their songs why cant they think about the imposing condition in transferring technology ? The Americans government are very greedy they only think of their selves. If India conduct nuclear test the US will be the first to impose sanction on India . The Americans are desperate to ink defense pact with India because they economy is not in good conditions and unemployment problem.
I am not too sure about signing the other two agreements, but LSA sure sounds something that can be looked at. It is similar to what banks have and they do...
India despite all shortcomings is a great country. In its morality, its humaneness and in its intelligence. It knows. What else is there to say. The whole world can play rings around it but it will prevail. It knows all the games that everyone has played.
What is there to think over these issues? No wise country will ever allow itself to become a signatory to any kind of agreement that could take away its independance in taking any action in its own interest. Beware of people with fork tongues..India must remain 100% independent in every which way you can imagine!
From not knowing the details of the agreement (not made public) I am thinking it has be in the details where few sentences can nail all agreements by legal points. It is important to understand that Indian democracy though has loop holes, but not necessarily those loop holes need another exploitation by legally respecting USA. By way of these agreements, if we can fix those gaps, it would be great. Besides strategies, it is important Indian citizens hold the right to use any weapons or services from USA, as deemed fit for India's strategy and doctrine and not following the steps of an already established super power nation.
If disagreements can be put forward to public, with exact legal words, then the public can scrutinize and perhaps provide a better clear picture to strategies.I think both USA and India needs to make the proposal public.
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