Logistics Support Agreement: A Closer Look at the Impact on India-US Strategic Relationship

Logistics support between the armed forces of India and the US will be a vital aspect for enhancing cooperation in capability development to respond to natural disasters and address emerging security threats of the twenty-first century. As the 2005 India-US New Framework Defence Agreement highlights the broader areas of convergence of security interests, the exchange of logistics support facilities would further enhance bilateral defence cooperation as well as India’s strategic role, keeping in view the projected expansion of the Indian Navy’s role beyond the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The absence of appropriate logistics support mechanism between the two countries would hamper such capabilities to effectively deal with the security challenges during emergency situations. This article argues that the logistics support agreement the US has signed with many other countries and a similar agreement that it had proposed for India, is a mutually beneficial agreement. However, both sides need to make efforts to arrive at a consensus that is consistent with their national interests and policies.

https://www.idsa.in/system/files/jds_7_1_SarojBishoyi.pdf