The LSA will be one of the most important items on the agenda of Prime Minister Morrison`s visit. The agreement will allow both countries to use the other country`s military bases for logistical support, including food, water and oil. India and Australia are part of nearly half a dozen regional multilateral forums, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), the ASEAN Defence Defence` Meeting Plus (ADMM+), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). Both India and Australia place the principle of the “centrality of ASEAN”[b] at the heart of their policies and also have an interest in the unity of ASEAN. While India welcomed ASEAN`s Indo-Pacific outlook, Australia shares a common view with the principles contained in the outlook. In the Indian Ocean region, they support IORA Jakarta Concord, 2017[13], which “presents IORA`s vision for the future and focuses in particular on cooperation among the 21 IORA Member States in the field of maritime safety”. [14] As the Indo-Pacific region becomes an arena of strategic conflict, the interests of India and Australia are coming closer. Two large maritime states from two different continents, India and Australia, have long been indifferent to one another. Today, however, their relations are optimistic: not only is their bilateral trade on the rise, but they also share common concerns about balancing a confident China and maintaining order in the region. By the end of the year, India and Australia are expected to conclude negotiations for a mutual logistics support agreement (MLSA). This letter places the MLSA in the growing bilateral relationship, analyzes the points of convergence between the two countries and examines the main obstacles on the way. In addition, the ongoing MLSA negotiations are in line with India`s recent maritime foreign policy maneuvers. In the recent past, the country has concluded several logistics agreements with different countries, including France, Oman, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea.
India is negotiating other such agreements with Japan and Russia. Similarly, Australia recently concluded a logistics-sharing agreement with Japan, in addition to existing pacts with the United States and New Zealand. Therefore, a logistical support agreement between India and Australia will be an integral part of the Community of Law-Abiding Nations striving to maintain the prevailing order in Indopazifik. “A common understanding and fundamental logistical support arrangements will enable both countries to make the most of their resources, not only to ensure effective surveillance of the region in the face of an emerging threat, but also to combat the non-traditional threats to maritime security that are abundant in this region,” Singh Farm. India has only slowly followed the negotiations with Australia on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECAF); India is also not very concerned about the negotiations on the regional comprehensive economic partnership [c]. The report “An Indian Economic Strategy to 2035”, commissioned by the Australian government in 2018, states that India and Australia are “too far apart” to conclude the CACE in the near future and should instead focus on concluding the RCEP before returning to bilateral trade negotiations. [18] However, India is reluctant to negotiate an agreement on RCEP, fearing the negative effects of cheap Chinese imports on the country`s domestic industry. The MLSA is a bilateral agreement between countries that allows reciprocal access to military facilities in terms of logistical support, which typically include food, water, oil (fuel), spare parts and other components. The agreement will be useful for joint military exercises, peacekeeping operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, operations planned by military platforms and any other necessary situations that may arise. It will help to improve interoperability between the parties concerned.
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