India – United States Relations
Recently India and America have agreed on a roadmap for cooperation in the field of defense industry. The new roadmap will accelerate technology collaboration and co-production in the following:
- Air combat and ground transportation systems;
- Intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance activities and undersea operations.
Key Facts:
- India and the US have agreed to start discussions for a ‘Security of Supply’ (SOS) arrangement, and a ‘Reciprocal Defense Procurement (RDP) agreement. (SoS: This arrangement allows companies in any country to request priority delivery for contracts, subcontracts or orders.)
- RPD Under this, the partners agree to the complementary acquisition of defense equipment from each other’s country.
- Both sides have agreed to launch a proposed new initiative called the India US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (NDUS-X).
- This initiative will promote cutting edge technology collaboration.
- The US has welcomed India’s leadership role in the Quad Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness Initiative (IPMDA).
India has signed the following four basic defense agreements with the US-
- General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in the year 2002 on the exchange of military information.
- Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) to use each other’s military bases in the year 2016.
- Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in the year 2018 for interoperability between the two armies and sale of high-end technology to India.
- Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in the year 2020 for sharing of high level military technology, logistics and geospatial maps.
IPMDA
Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA)
- The US had announced IPMDA in 2022. It is an initiative launched with regional partners and allies to promote a free and open Pacific region.
- Its goal is to connect regional partners and allies with American technologies to provide greater maritime situational awareness in real-time.
Source – The Hindu
