,
NEW DELHI: Strange are the ways of the US. Just when India had shed its long-standing opinion of the US being an unreliable arms supplier, given its propensity to impose sanctions at the drop of a hat, Washington has let loose a strange missile.
The Navy was all set to launch sea trials of the first of the three Shivalik-class stealth frigates being built at Mazagon Docks (MDL) when it got a rude shock on learning the new Obama administration had directed American company General Electric (GE) to stop all work on the gas turbine engines which power the warships.
Sources said MDL and Navy are now scrambling to get Italian company Fiat Avio to oversee the “operationalisation'' of the two GE LM-2500 gas turbines of the 4,900-tonne frigate, named INS Shivalik, to ensure its sea trials can begin within a month or two.
GE, on its part, told Indian authorities that the US state department had asked it to freeze all work on the turbines it has supplied till the Obama administration reviewed its military ties with different countries.
Though the direction is not India-specific and includes other countries, it will hit the already delayed plans to induct INS Shivalik — the other two, INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, are now slated for delivery by 2010 — within “a few months''.
Interestingly, this is the first time American engines have been used in an Indian-built frigate. The engines earmarked for the ambitious 37,500-tonne IAC (indigenous aircraft carrier) being built at Cochin Shipyard, incidentally, are also the LM-2500 gas turbines.
Though GE has told Indian authorities that it will take three months or so to resolve the export control imbroglio, the episode has put a big question mark on US as a reliable long-term defence supplier.
Moreover, New Delhi and Washington are yet to resolve their differences over pacts like End-Use Monitoring Agreement (EUMA) and Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum Agreement (CISMOA), which basically govern sensitive technology control requirements to “minimise'' security risks to US and its allies, as required under its domestic laws.
This comes at a time when India has just inked the biggest-ever defence deal with US in the shape of the $2.1 billion contract between the Indian defence ministry and Boeing for eight P-8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft in January.
India's main objection to EUMA and its “enhanced version'' relates to periodic “onsite physical verification'' by American inspectors, which it contends are “intrusive'' in nature.
With no overarching EUMA in place, India and US have been reduced to signing specific end-use agreements for different defence deals like the $962-million contract signed in 2007 for six C-130J `Super Hercules' aircraft for Indian special forces.
Domestic political sensitivities have also acted as a stumbling block for India to sign the contentious Logistics Support Agreement (LSA). On the lines of the Access and Cross-Servicing Agreement the US has signed with over 60 countries, the LSA envisages Indian and American militaries providing logistic support, berthing and refuelling facilities for each other's warships and aircraft on a barter or equal-value exchange basis.
Times of India
