Why in news?
It was officially announced that the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) has been fully operationalised.
What is LEMOA?
- LEMOA is a tweaked India-specific version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) of the U.S.
- India had concluded the LEMOA with the U.S. in 2016.
- It is one of the foundational agreements, as referred to by the U.S.
What are the foundational agreements?
- These are the agreements that the U.S. signs with countries with which it has close military ties.
- India had signed only three of these four agreements -
- General Security Of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in 2002
- Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016
- Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018
- The last one remaining is the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).
What is the significance?
- LEMOA gives both countries access to designated military facilities on either side.
- It can be availed for the purpose of refuelling and replenishment in primarily four areas.
- These are: port calls, joint exercises, training, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
- The biggest beneficiary of the LEMOA is the Indian Navy as it interacts and exercises the most with foreign Navies.
- Also, fuel exchange gets subsumed into the LEMOA and does away with the need for a separate agreement.
- So far, the three services had individual accounts from which payments were being made during military exercises.
- Under the LEMOA, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are applicable to all three services.
- LEMOA also gains more significance following the recent signing of COMCASA.
- The COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) is meant for secure encrypted communications.
- All these improve the interoperability between the militaries and allow transfer of high-end military platforms.
Source: The Hindu
