According to the Defense Ministry sources, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis has conveyed to Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar that India should sign the foundational defense agreements as early as possible.
"India-US Defense cooperation will be strengthened further. As far the Foundational Defense Agreement is concerned, India has signed the Logistics Agreement but government is reluctant to sign the other two agreements in the present format. India has objections on certain aspects of the Foundational Agreement and it is to sorted out. US has conveyed India that signing of the agreement will enhance the defense cooperation “Major General (Retd) R K Arora, Chief Editor 'Indian Military Review' told Sputnik.
As a part of India-US Defense Foundational Agreements, India has only signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with US in August, 2016.
The LEMOA will facilitate logistical support, supplies and services between Indian and US militaries and provide a framework to govern them.
The other two agreements which are also part of the Foundational Agreement include Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA).
The CISMOA will secure communications interoperability between India and US and multinational training exercises and operations. The agreement will also guide sale and transfer of high-end technologies between US and India. The BECA will provide no-cost exchange of unclassified and controlled unclassified geospatial products, data and services between India and the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
US is now pushing for these agreements and wants an early commitment from Indian side. But India is not in a hurry to sign the CISMOA and BECA as signing of the LEMOA in August, 2016 was not well received in India.
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