William J Lynn

New Delhi, Nov. 7: With defence ties intensifying, the US wants India to sign a military Logistics Support Agreement, pending for at least three years now, despite New Delhi’s hesitation.

The leader of the US delegation to a two-day annual Defence Policy Group meeting, deputy defence secretary William J. Lynn, said there had been a full exchange of information on the agreement and that the US now expected India to “act”. Asked if that meant signing the agreement, he said yes.

The Defence Policy Group is the apex body that structures India-US military relations. Lynn said the two sides had intensified ties to such a level since a 10-year 2005 agreement that joint exercises and defence trade had now become “routine”.

The American side is of the view that joint exercises, maritime security, defence trade and information exchange between the two militaries can increase substantially if the Logistics Support Agreement and a Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) aresigned.

“The world’s two largest democracies working together on defence sends a powerful signal,” Lynn said. The agreement on an end-use monitoring arrangement earlier this year has bolstered hopes that the two other pending agreements will also be signed.

But the Indian government has been hesitant since the agreements were proposed. The first UPA government was wary of opposition from the Left. The drafts of the agreements are understood to have been vetted by services headquarters. But, now, the defence establishment questions if an LSA will benefit India as much as it will benefit the US.

Under an LSA, the militaries of the two countries will support each other’s ships, aircraft and personnel with logisitics, fuel and accommodation on a barter basis.

The US also wants the CISMOA because it wants to ensure that sensitive communication that is exchanged will remain secure and also to create space to sell more electronic information systems.