India wary as Pakistan moves to sign security pact with US

With Islamabad moving forward to sign an agreement with Washington DC to improve interoperability between the two militaries and clear the way for the acquisition of high-end defense equipment from the United States for the Pakistani armed forces, New Delhi is evaluating its involvement to Indian security.

The move by Islamabad and Washington DC signaling intent to expand bilateral defense cooperation came just weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House on June 22 saw the US and military – with India.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government in Islamabad has given its go-ahead to a proposal for Pakistan to sign the Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Understanding, commonly known as CISM, with the United States, according to a report published in express grandstandnewspaper published in the neighboring country.

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CISMOA is one of the “fundamental agreements” that allow the US to intensify defense cooperation and share advanced military equipment with other nations. The United States has already signed all the “fundamental agreements” with India, including the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), a variant of CISMOA.

The US designated India a “major defense partner” in June 2016, paving the way for sharing critical military equipment and technology.

When asked about New Delhi’s reaction to Pakistan’s decision and the US security of the nation. However, he declined to comment specifically on the proposed Pakistan-US deal.

New Delhi has been conveying its concern to Washington DC over the continued sale of US military equipment to Pakistan.

The US State Department had approved in early 2022 “a potential foreign military sale to the Pakistani government of the F-16 Case for Sustainment and related equipment for an estimated cost of $450 million.” The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) had delivered the required certification on September 7, 2022, notifying the US Congress of the possible sale. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh expressed New Delhi’s discontent over the proposed US package to refit Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets. They had dismissed the US argument that the overhaul package for its F-16 fighter jet would help Pakistan fight terrorists.

New Delhi would reiterate its concerns to Washington DC if CISMOA paved the way for the United States to provide more advanced military technologies to Pakistan, the source said.

India has already signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with the US creating a framework to support each other’s aircraft, ships and personnel with logistics, fuel and spare parts. India became an “important defense partner” of the US, continuing to sign one defense agreement after another: (COMCASA) in 2018, the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) to the General Security of Military Information Agreement ( GSOMIA) in 2019 and the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in 2020.