Article Posted on : - Dec 14, 2009

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with President Barak Obama during the Prime Minister's recent visit to US

New Delhi (PTI): India has made it clear to the US that it is in no hurry to sign CISMOA, a defence pact which provides for installation of American communication systems on US-made military aircraft with certain guarantees.

The Indian view on signing of Communication Inter-operability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) was conveyed to the American side during the recent visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington, sources said here.

The US side was told that the issue is under consideration of Indian government and "we will see", they said.

The US has been pushing India to sign the CISMOA as it intends to enhance the inter-operability of the Indian and American forces.

It ensures secrecy of its C4ISR (command, control, communications, computer, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) systems.

The sources insisted that the delay in signing the agreement will have no impact on equipping the American aircraft like C-130J planes with modern communication systems.

"Inter-operability is not an issue. We can get any equipment and put it on any platform like C-130J," they said.

The CISMOA will govern all current and future transfers of intelligent systems to India, which is in the process of acquiring 126 fighter planes for its Air Force and America is one of the contenders for the same.

The Logistics Support Agreement (LSA), which provides for inter-serviceability, is also pending with India weighing all options, considering the political sensitivity involved.

Under the LSA, India and America will have to provide logistic support, refuelling and berthing facilities for each other's warships and aircraft on an exchange basis.

It is similar to the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements that the US has inked with several other countries.

India and the US signed in July a controversial pact -- End-User Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) -- which provides for verification of the usage of military equipment supplied by the US to India.