To secure its maritime borders and play the role of a responsible power capable of standing up to China, India is working on a logistics support agreement with Russia, the U.K. and Vietnam.
India just concluded a logistics support agreement, the Reciprocal Provision of Supplies and Services with Japan early this week, and the agreement with Russia is expected to be signed in October.
At present, India now has military logistics agreements with all Quad countries, Australia, Japan and the U.S., and regular military exercises have significantly improved interoperability as they also operate several common military platforms.
The agreements with the U.K. and Vietnam are under discussion. Roman Babushkin, Deputy Chief of Mission at the Russian Embassy in India, said early this week, The agreement with Russia, the Reciprocal Logistics Support (ARLS), is expected to be signed during the bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in mid-October,”.
The agreement will give India access to Russian facilities in the Arctic region. In the last ten years, the Arctic region has seen increased global activity as new shipping routes have opened up giving opportunities to have access to resources.
India and Australia in June signed the long-pending Mutual Logistics Support (MLSA) agreement and a Comprehensive Strategic partnership was announced in a joint declaration on a shared vision for maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
In 2016, India signed several logistics agreements with the US beginning with the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Understanding (LEMOA) with the Indian Navy has been the biggest beneficiary of them.
After India signed foundational agreement Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) with the U.S., it got access to encrypted communication systems for seamless communication. In March 2019 the Indian Navy and U.S. Navy signed a loan agreement and installed two Pacific fleet provided CENTRIXS (Combined Enterprise Regional Information Exchange System) kits at the Indian Navy headquarters.
Such logistic agreements would not only enhance India’s security concern in the vast Indian Ocean Region, it would also allow it’s navy more operational legroom.