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Signaling what could raise strategic ties between United States and India to a significant new level, US ambassador Kenneth Juster Thursday proposed “reciprocal military liaison officers at each other’s combatant commands” at “some point” in defence relations between the two countries.

Details

• This suggestion from the US envoy comes two years after India and the US signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) which allows their militaries to work closely and use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies
• At present, the US has arrangements to have military liaison officers with some of its NATO allies and close defence partners including Australia, Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, Philippines, New Zealand, Great Britain. Posting liaison officers will mean formalising the robust partnerships between theatre commands, viz Pacific command of the US defence forces.
• Juster also proposed a Free Trade Agreement with India in the future, and asked New Delhi to look at the economic partnership through the strategic lens — as the US looks for alternatives to China in the region.
• The US envoy also said that they also expect, in the very near future, India to join the Australia Group on chemical and biological weapons. And they are working closely with India and their international partners to secure India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

Source

Indian Express