The United States and India have signed an agreement to expand cooperation on military logistics, the two countries said Aug. 29.
The bilateral logistics exchange memorandum of agreement (LEMOA) will cut red tape so that American and Indian forces can work together in such ways as sharing fuel and other supplies, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar said at a Pentagon press briefing.
LEMOA “will help facilitate deeper engagement between our two militaries,” Carter said. “It’s not a basing agreement of any kind, but it does make the logistics of joint operations so much easier and so much more efficient.”
Carter also said the two countries agreed to advance collaborative projects on jet and jet engine technology, aircraft carriers, and chemical and biological protection by year’s end. “That will surely bring further collaboration, co-development and co-production,” Carter told reporters.
The U.S.-India news is the latest in a years-long effort to increase defense ties between the two large, democratic countries. In June, the United States designated India as a “major defense partner,” which means “the United States has agreed to elevate defense trade and technology sharing with India to a level commensurate with its closest allies and partners,” according to a U.S.-India joint statement. In addition, the two countries are participating together in several military exercises this year.
Besides meeting with Carter on the first day of his three-day trip to the United States, Parrikar met leaders of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) and visited U.S. Cyber Command. He also will visit the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and meet representatives of the U.S. defense industry. At Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia, he will tour Air Combat Command and the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing.