Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) Visiting US Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates Wednesday hard-sold two military pacts that will bind New Delhi and Washington to providing logistics support to each other’s aircraft, ships and personnel, as also enable the exchange of sensitive communication equipment.
On his two-day visit to New Delhi, Gates Wednesday sought to build up momentum for the two pacts - the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) and the Communications, Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA).

Gates told reporters here that under CISMOA, India would be provided with “sophisticated communication equipment” and basic exchanges in the “geo-spatial area”.

“It is for India’s benefit, for getting high-end equipment for its armed forces,” he told reporters here.

Contending that the US has the agreement in place with a dozen of its closest allies, Gates said: “It (the pact) is about giving them additional technology.”

The pact also figured during Gates meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday.

“LSA was the other agreement we have talked about. What I promised the prime minister was that we would do a better job putting them on paper,” he said.

“They (the military pacts) have been lying for quite some time now. They were put on the table in 2002. It is not a new requirement but has been known for some time. CISMOA will allow the defence relationship to expand significantly by increasing interoperability and security of communication equipment,” said Gates.

During US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to India last year, New Delhi and Washington had inked the End User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) allowing the US to verify the manner in which the Indian military is using the equipment sold by it.