India and US recently signed COMCASA on 6th September, 2018 in the inaugural 2+2 summit held in Delhi. COMCASA stands for Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement. It is the Indian specific version of Communication and Information on Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA). It has come into force immediately and is valid for a period of 10 years.
COMCASA is one of the four foundational agreements between US and India. US and its allies usually have four foundational agreements to make the interoperability military operations between both the countries easier. India had signed GSOMIA (General Security of Military Information Agreement) with the US in 2002, later signing LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement) in 2016. The last remaining agreement is BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation.
COMCASA strengthens the military ties between India and US. It authorizes the inter-operability between the two militaries and provides a safe platform for communication with the help of advanced hardware and encryption software which will enable them to interact with the US military. This means that if US ship has picked up some movement of a suspected enemy, it will be able to inform the Indian Navy with the information like the speed and location of the suspected ship. Earlier, India used less safer communication technologies on high-end platforms like C130-J and the Naval P81 aircraft.
The US has assured that all the equipment provided by US will be maintained by them with their officials coming in for regular inspections. They have said that they will always inform the Indian authorities before sending their officials. They have also assured that there will be no disruption in communications and a 6 months prior notice will be sent before the system shut-down.
Some officials showed their concern over the fact that US will have access to the communication information acquired from the Indian platforms. To this the US guaranteed India that no information will be passed to third countries without acquiring India’s consent.
The Indian defence minister Nirmala Sitharamam said, “The signing of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 and the Helicopter Operations from Ships Other Than Aircraft Carriers (HOSTAC) earlier this year were important steps in this direction. The signing of the COMCASA today will enable India to access advanced technologies from the US and enhance India’s defence preparedness.”
COMCASA also enables India to buy high end military technologies from the US, including drones.
But is COMCASA an all-gain no loss deal?
Not all the countries have military ties with the US. Which means not all countries use high-end military technologies provided by the US. Through COMCASA, India will be able to strengthen the inter-operability between different US technologies.
But India does not only use US produced military equipment. It also uses Russian military equipment like Russian-origin fighter- Sukhois, various MiGs, submarines, tanks, and missile systems which are not compatible with the US technologies. Hence this can make lot of confusion between the military as different equipment use different technologies which will also increase the task for the military to learn the working of different equipments.
Another major setback of the deal is the cementing of military alliance with the US. Though India has always taken an individual stand during the times of war, now with COMCASA deal signed, there is a big possibility that India might have to stand alongside US in the times of war. NATO had no option but to stand with the US as its allies in the US war on Iraq or its war on Afghanistan.
Some analysts have shown their concern over the fact that the US will now have complete information of the communication which takes place with the help of their technologies. They said that this will make India more vulnerable at the hands of the US.
The level of intrusion by the US during the inspections is also unknown. Though the US has clearly stated that there will be minimal intrusion during the inspections, and there always will be a prior notice before the inspection, many analysts have shown their concern.
Conclusion
Before the twice-postponed 2+2 summit many analysts thought that the deep ties of India with Russia, and the fact that India is ignoring the US sanctions against Iran, would hinder the process of US-India defence relationship. But the summit went well with India and US signing the third fundamental functional agreement, COMCASA.
India sees China as the main threat to its rise and hence to counterbalance so it has been enhancing its strategic ties with the US. As Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said during her meeting with Pompeo, “India attaches the highest priority to its strategic partnership with the US. We see that the US is our partner of choice.”
But this move can upset India’s ties with Russia. India has been for long buying and using Russian technologies as Russia is its number one ally. Now with the US in the picture, can India balance both the giant powers?
Image Credit: U.S. Department of State