EagleOne
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The senior most US military commander, Admiral Michael Mullen, will be in town on Thursday and Friday but India still remains cold to inking three military pacts connected with technology safeguards and logistics being pushed by Washington.
Interestingly, Admiral Mullen's visit comes at a time when the selection process to choose one of the six foreign aviation majors in the race to supply 126 fighters to IAF, in a lucrative $10.4-billion project, is entering the last lap. Two American companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are among the contenders.
Moreover, Washington is also on the verge of clinching the biggest-ever Indo-US defence deal till now, the supply of 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft to IAF, which will come with a price tag upwards of $3 billion to overtake the $2.1 billion contract for eight Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft inked last year.
As the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mullen will, of course, discuss the changing dynamics in the volatile Af-Pak region and the terrorism emanating from it, as also other security issues of interest to India, during his talks with defence minister A K Antony, national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and top military brass here.
But the virtual deadlock over the three pacts — Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) — is also expected to figure in the parleys.
US wants CISMOA and BECA to be inked as soon as possible, holding that otherwise it will not be possible to transfer high-tech avionics and electronics to India like the ones required in the P-8I deal.
But while US managed to push through the EUMA (end-use monitoring agreement), finalised during the visit of secretary of state Hillary Clinton a year ago, India remains quite unconvinced about the three pacts.
"LSA strictly remains a non-starter. We also have some serious misgivings about CISMOA and BECA. The continuing inclusion of some DRDO labs and defence PSUs in the American government's `entity list' is another sore point here," said a top official.
Modelled on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements the US has inked with scores of countries, LSA envisages Indian and American 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's a politically contentious pact. While we have a thriving defence relationship with US, we don't want to be seen as its direct military ally. Moreover, the pact will benefit American forces more since they operate in our region, while we do not operate near their bases," said the official.
During the last visit of US defence secretary Robert Gates here, Antony in fact had made it clear India was unsure of the benefits that would accrue to it by inking pacts like CISMOA and LCA.
http://idrw.org/?p=2604
Interestingly, Admiral Mullen's visit comes at a time when the selection process to choose one of the six foreign aviation majors in the race to supply 126 fighters to IAF, in a lucrative $10.4-billion project, is entering the last lap. Two American companies, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are among the contenders.
Moreover, Washington is also on the verge of clinching the biggest-ever Indo-US defence deal till now, the supply of 10 C-17 Globemaster-III giant strategic airlift aircraft to IAF, which will come with a price tag upwards of $3 billion to overtake the $2.1 billion contract for eight Boeing P-8I maritime reconnaissance aircraft inked last year.
As the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mullen will, of course, discuss the changing dynamics in the volatile Af-Pak region and the terrorism emanating from it, as also other security issues of interest to India, during his talks with defence minister A K Antony, national security adviser Shiv Shankar Menon and top military brass here.
But the virtual deadlock over the three pacts — Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) — is also expected to figure in the parleys.
US wants CISMOA and BECA to be inked as soon as possible, holding that otherwise it will not be possible to transfer high-tech avionics and electronics to India like the ones required in the P-8I deal.
But while US managed to push through the EUMA (end-use monitoring agreement), finalised during the visit of secretary of state Hillary Clinton a year ago, India remains quite unconvinced about the three pacts.
"LSA strictly remains a non-starter. We also have some serious misgivings about CISMOA and BECA. The continuing inclusion of some DRDO labs and defence PSUs in the American government's `entity list' is another sore point here," said a top official.
Modelled on the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements the US has inked with scores of countries, LSA envisages Indian and American 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's a politically contentious pact. While we have a thriving defence relationship with US, we don't want to be seen as its direct military ally. Moreover, the pact will benefit American forces more since they operate in our region, while we do not operate near their bases," said the official.
During the last visit of US defence secretary Robert Gates here, Antony in fact had made it clear India was unsure of the benefits that would accrue to it by inking pacts like CISMOA and LCA.
http://idrw.org/?p=2604
