Must work on pending military pacts: US

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 18

Top US military commander Admiral Harry B Harris, who heads the US Pacific Command (PACOM), today said India and the US need to work on two remaining military agreements and asked both countries to “sharpen our tools” to protect a rule-based international system.

The latter part was a reference to China, which has been dictating terms in the sensitive South China Sea (SCS) - India has interest in trade and freedom of navigation at sea. In reference to China's creation of artificial islands and claims of additional sea territory, which can impede free flow of navigation in the SCS, Admiral Harris said: “Will not allow shared domains to be closed down unilaterally.”

Admiral Harris was delivering a keynote address at the “Raisina Dialogue — The new normal” here.  He termed the two pending agreements — Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA) — as foundational and said: “I want us to work on the other two.”

“India has to set the pace and we will be with you,” he added. The first of three “foundational agreements” — Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) — was signed last year. He said the two countries had progressed in their partnership, but pointed out that “bureaucracy, history and trust” had been "areas of frustration" in taking their relationship forward.