US defence secretary to visit India shortly

New Delhi: US defence secretary Robert Gates may arrive in India in the third week of January on a two day visit in a bid to boost Indo-US defence cooperation and seek contracts for American defence companies. India for long has become one the world's most lucrative defence markets and competing global companies have been eyeing a share of the pie.

US defence secretary Robert Gates

Officials sources said the dates for the visit were yet to be finalised as Gates' programme was still being firmed up for he was likely to swing through a number of countries on the trip.

With the two countries agreeing on the modalities of an end-use monitoring programme of military equipment that the US sells to India, America is also pressing India to operationalise the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) and a Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (Cismoa).

Defence ministry official indicate that the possibility of signing the LSA was indeed remote, but it was likely that the two sides may agree on operationalising Cismoa.

Gates, a holdover appointee from the previous Bush administration, oversaw an important transformation in Indo-US military-to-military relations with the signing of the 10-year Framework Agreement for the India-US Defence Relationship in 2005.

It is likely that the Defence Acquisitions Council may authorise some big outright purchase to mollify Gates, who is held in high regard at a bipartisan level in Washington, and is an important voice in policy formation in any administration.