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After continual persuasion from the United States to finalise the crucial End-Use Monitoring Agreement [EUMA] which has been pending, India has finally agreed to the final text of the EUMA military agreement.
According to the text, US inspectors would be given access to Indian military bases to inspect American military systems in service with the Indian defence forces. Both India and US agreed upon the text of the end-use monitoring agreement during US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s visit to India.
As per the agreement, this standard text of the EUMA would be an appendix to all letters of agreements for future defence equipment purchases between the two countries. The agreement would also cover all military systems bought from the US in the past.
This will be the first time India will have such an agreement with any country and many within the government and the military feel that this EUMA is intrusive.
The EUMA would entail negative implications since it will authorize the US to scrutinize and inspect India’s military bases and other crucial aspects of Indian defence.
The US agreement, known as the Golden Sentry Programme, indicates that “physical verification” was integral to the agreement and the US will satisfy itself against misuse or resale of the systems with India through “joint consultation” or “joint security verification”.
It says that the “Government of India agrees to make available through mutual consultation to authorised US personnel” access to US equipment in Indian military service.
This inspection mechanism is governed by the US Department of Defence (DOD) to monitor all military equipment sold to foreign countries and this is to “minimise security risks” and to satisfy its “foreign policy objectives”.
The inspections are done by “Tigers”, specialised teams of the Pentagon, at random on defence articles and services provided to foreign customers through government-to-government sales called Foreign Military Sales (FMS) through which sensitive military systems are sold by the US.
Perhaps the only respite India gets is the fact that it can decide the time and place of the inspection, and it could also try and avoid US inspectors in the most sensitive installations. However, it will be technically impossible to relocate certain sensitive installations and aircraft.
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