Military Logistics Pact: India’s Multi-Aligned Approach

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has divided the global village into the West and Russia-China camps. Amidst such geopolitical tensions and pressure, India stands strong as the flag bearer of strategic autonomy. New Delhi is determined to have an independent foreign policy and work rigorously towards securing its national interests.

Illustration by The Geostrata

Along these lines, it is all set to sign a new logistics pact with Moscow, named the ‘Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement’, or RELOS, the draft of which has already been approved by the Russian side and now awaits India’s assent. Such an agreement, however, is not the first of its kind for India. New Delhi has previously partnered with the United States, Japan, Australia, and France, to name a few, to accommodate similar arrangements concerning military logistics.

India and its long-trusted friend, which the EAM Dr. Jaishankar refers to as ‘the only constant’: Russia, in an attempt to boost their robust defence partnership, have decided to empower either side to utilise each other’s military facilities.

Under the proposed agreement, the Russian and Indian militaries will be offered mutual logistical support and access to assets for a wide range of tasks. This includes support for seamless military operations, including peacekeeping missions, humanitarian assistance, and joint military exercises.

Additionally, the support will include critical services like refuelling, maintenance, and the supply of essentials and provisions. The agreement, if accepted, will be valid for a period of five years and will continue to be renewed until either of the parties decides to terminate.

Defence cooperation is one of the pillars of the India-Russia strategic partnership. On December 6th, 2021, during the inaugural meeting of the India-Russia 2+2 dialogue, the agreement for Military Technical Cooperation for 2021-31 was signed. Under such an arrangement, both countries agreed to provide technical cooperation in military research and development, production, and after-sales support of armament systems and various military equipment.

Given such provisions and the fact that the two sides have periodic exchanges of armed forces personnel and military exercises, the prospective logistics pact would further help to amplify bilateral cooperation and serve as an aid to other agreements.

A logistics agreement between Moscow and New Delhi will immensely benefit both countries by improving their strategic reach and be a massive push for Russia's geopolitical manoeuvres.

With India finding a smooth way to the Arctic, the pact will let the Kremlin penetrate the Indian Ocean Region. A part of the world, consequential for at least Moscow’s economic future. New Delhi’s engagement in the Arctic started in February 1920, when it signed the Svalbard Treaty in Paris. The Arctic Ocean area is a topic of immense interest for India due to its ongoing high-priority research in domains concerning the environment.

As far as Moscow’s fascination with the Indian Ocean Region is concerned, it is a subsequent response to Russia’s isolation due to its long-standing conflict with Ukraine. The Kremlin is conscious enough to acknowledge that most of its future economic transactions and interactions may remain confined to the South-Asian nations and the African continent.

Furthermore, the pact will be beneficial to enhance the security of cross-border infrastructure projects such as the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a project to boost connectivity and trade between Russia, Iran, and India. 

INDIA'S MILITARY LOGISTICS AGREEMENT WITH THE U.S.

As previously mentioned, India has signed similar agreements with other countries.

In 2016, New Delhi and Washington inked the bilateral Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).

It which gave the militaries of both countries access to each other’s facilities for supplies and repairs, although it didn’t make logistical support automatic or obligatory for either of the countries.

For the US, the agreement allows it to access India's logistical support system, which would further enable it to expand its presence in the Indo-Pacific. On the other hand, for India, it substantially enhances its strategic reach in the Pacific region. LEMOA is one of the four foundational agreements the US enters into with its defence partners. With LEMOA in 2016, COMCASA in 2018, and BECA in 2020, India has signed three out of the four.

The signing of this historic agreement brought both countries much closer in terms of military cooperation, which was further enhanced by the other two agreements in the following four years, plus it sent a political message that India was getting comfortable with the US. LEMOA was a long-standing and highly debated agreement that was given assent to, largely because of the growing prominence of the Chinese military.

New Delhi’s growing proximity to Washington is in fact a consequence of having a hostile neighbour like China, which has become more aggressive in terms of its border assertions and building military muscles in the past few years.

INDIA'S COOPERATION WITH JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA FOR MILITARY LOGISTICS SUPPORT

On September 9th, 2020, India and Japan entered into a similar agreement called the ‘Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement’ or ACSA, which aimed to set up a framework that would enable the prompt provision of supplies and services between the armed forces of the two countries.

In a press release by the Ministry of External Affairs of India, PM Modi and the late Japanese PM Shinzo Abe emphasised that the agreement aims to further enhance the depth of defence cooperation between Tokyo and New Delhi and contribute to the peace and security of the Indo-Pacific.

In the same year, India and Australia also sealed the ‘Mutual Logistics Support Agreement’, or MLSA, during the virtual summit between PM Modi and the then Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, which too aimed at facilitating sophisticated logistics cooperation, streamlining military engagement, and fostering the combined readiness of forces to combat regional humanitarian disasters.

India boasts similar agreements with its other important partners like France, South Korea, Vietnam, and Singapore. All of which are foundational to improving New Delhi’s operational turnaround and efficient communication in the waters. 

While a Military Logistics pact is mostly seen as an arrangement for defence logistics, it is important to be mindful of the fact that any place which facilitates military logistics essentially serves as a military base, although in highly limited ways. This is so because operational logistics is the lifeline of maritime missions. Unless extreme checks and balances have been incorporated, a port or any other asset offering military logistical support is a peace-time military base.

China, for instance, uses such arrangements for dual purposes. The Gwadar Port in Pakistan, although a commercial project, is feared to have the capability of serving as a military base for China in the hour of need. 

In conclusion, India’s impending logistics pact with Russia is reflective of its strategic autonomy and independent foreign policy. Furthermore, it marks a proactive approach to securing military cooperation and amplifying its regional presence.

For a country that aims to project itself as a pan-regional security provider, like ourselves, it is pivotal to engage in such logistics agreements that would enable military readiness and signal the country’s commitment to maintain strategic autonomy amid global power dynamics. Such negotiations are indicative of India’s balanced and multi-aligned approach to international relations, securing its interests while contributing to global peace and stability.

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BY SATAKUL

THE GEOSTRATA

info@thegeostrata.com