India attempts to balance ties with US and China by hinting that it is keen on signing bilateral military logistics agreements with Russia and France.
New Delhi — India could sign military logistic support agreements with countries like Russia and France.
Indian government sources told Sputnik that many countries have expressed their desire to sign such agreements, and it is conducting crucial meetings to ink similar contracts with friendly nations.
“Such agreements with other nations would not only enhance the operational capacity of the Indian Armed Forces but also do away with some concerns in the minds of our close allies about defense relations with the US,” said one government official.
India and the United States had signed a so-called Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) on 29 August this year. LEMOA is a facilitating agreement that establishes basic terms, conditions, and procedures for the reciprocal provision of logistic support, supplies, and services between the armed forces of India and the United States. It does not provide for the establishment of any bases or base arrangements.
“India should not hesitate to sign LEMOA-like logistics support agreements with strategic partners like France and Russia. The signing of similar agreements will not be construed as an anti-China development,” says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), a senior fellow at Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses.
This story first appeared on Sputnik & is reposted here with permission.