The US today termed the Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) as a "vehicle" for closer bilateral security ties and stressed on the need for India to sign three pending "foundational agreements".
Even as its stressed that the agreements - CISMOA, LSA and BECA - are not under the umbrella of DTTI, the US said not signing of these pacts by India "are going to be an issue" at some point as both the countries work on high-end technology.
"I don't think there is a strong connection between the two (DTTI and the pacts)... They are not really under the umbrella of the DTTI," senior Pentagon official Frank Kendall told a select group of reporters here.
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The three agreements have been pending for over five years and the US has been pushing for bringing them into force. Of these, Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation (BECA) enhance the capacity of military equipment already bought from the US.
The third agreement, Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) would enable cashless supplies to each other's armed forces on credit.
Kendall, US Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L) and the Pentagon's point person on India-related defence issues, particularly on DTTI, held talks with the Indian government earlier in the day.
Even as he maintained that the three pacts, which the US describes as "foundational agreements", are not linked to DTTI, Kenneth Handelman, Deputy Assistant Secretary (Defence Trade Controls) in the State Department said they were necessary in the longer run.
He underlined that DTTI is a vehicle for much broader security relationship.
"DTTI has progressed in the absence of the foundational agreements... But at some point the foundational agreements are going to be an issue whether its LSA or CISMOA," he said.
Speaking to PTI later, Handelman explained why India not signing on the agreements will be an issue.
"I certainly support what Mr Kendall said. The foundational agreements don't directly relate to what is being done on the DTTI right now," he said adding that DTTI is intended to be a vehicle or mechanism through which both of our governments can explore a closer security relationship.
He said that if all goes well and both countries expand this relationship, that would entail joint production and development of higher military technology, the agreements would be handy.
"It is just an emblematic of a more mature security relationship," he said.
