For example, since lemoa`s signing with the U.S. in 2016, Indian warships stationed near the Gulf of Aden have been refueling U.S. Navy tankers in the region and also have the flexibility to refuel U.S. Navy ships around the world or, if necessary, call at ports under their control. The versatility and scope of this provision was recently highlighted when INS Kiltan, an anti-submarine corvette of the Indian Navy, carried out refueling at sea (RAS) with the US merchant navy ship USNS Richard E. After signing the logistics agreement with France in 2018, Indian warships and military aircraft can use the French base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa or the French territory of the Reunion Islands in the Indian Ocean, for a rapid “conversion” of their assets.3 A logistics agreement with Russia would allow the Indian Navy access to Arctic seaports. 2000. which, in the future, will probably be ice-free for a long time due to global warming. In addition to extending the range of Indian warships, these agreements provide for additional operational flexibility for the Indian Navy`s long-range maritime patrol (LRMP) aircraft. The Indian Navy owns the extremely powerful Boeing P8I acquired in 2013. The aircraft has a large number of advanced weapons and sensors capable of attacking both superficial and underground targets. With a range of 1200 nm (four hours of deployment) and a speed of 789 km/h, India`s aircraft is the “first line of defence”4 Logistical agreements with partner countries thus facilitate, as agreed, the landing and refuelling of these aircraft on a reciprocal basis, thus considerably expanding their deployment. The usefulness of the agreements will be visible at the next edition of the Trilateral Malabar Maritime Exercise, which is scheduled to take place in November, the first source said.

As previously reported by The Hindu, an informal consensus has still been reached to invite Australia to participate in the Malabar exercise, but the formal invitation has not yet been issued. It is not yet known if Canberra would be invited for this year`s edition. The deal gives India access to Russian facilities in the Arctic region, which is seeing increased global activity due to the opening of new shipping routes and the availability of resources, officials said earlier. India recently announced investments in the Russian Far East. By accelerating joint military exercises and defence pacts between India and Australia, the mutual logistics support agreement will eliminate the need for lengthy negotiations on reciprocal access to logistical assistance at each maneuver, people said. Monday`s dialogue briefly discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan by the Kashmir issue did not come to the discussion, people said. . . .