LEMOA Fully Operationalised

Why in news?

It was officially announced that the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) has been fully operationalised.

What is LEMOA?

LEMOA is a tweaked India-specific version of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) of the U.S.
India had concluded the LEMOA with the U.S. in 2016.
It is one of the foundational agreements, as referred to by the U.S.

What are the foundational agreements?

These are the agreements that the U.S. signs with countries with which it has close military ties.
India had signed only three of these four agreements -

The last one remaining is the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA).

What is the significance?

LEMOA gives both countries access to designated military facilities on either side.
It can be availed for the purpose of refuelling and replenishment in primarily four areas.
These are: port calls, joint exercises, training, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
The biggest beneficiary of the LEMOA is the Indian Navy as it interacts and exercises the most with foreign Navies.
Also, fuel exchange gets subsumed into the LEMOA and does away with the need for a separate agreement.
So far, the three services had individual accounts from which payments were being made during military exercises.
Under the LEMOA, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are applicable to all three services.
LEMOA also gains more significance following the recent signing of COMCASA.
The COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) is meant for secure encrypted communications.
All these improve the interoperability between the militaries and allow transfer of high-end military platforms.

Source: The Hindu