IAS Gyan

Daily News Analysis

CIS-MOA

4th August, 2023 International Relations

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Context

  • The cabinet through a circulation summary gave its seal of approval to the signing of the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, known as the CIS-MOA, between Pakistan and the US.

About CIS MOA

  • CIS-MOA is a foundational agreement that the US signs with its allies and countries with which it wants to maintain close military and defence ties.
  • It also provides legal cover to the US Department of Defence for ensuring the sale of military equipment and hardware to other countries.
  • The signing of the CIS-MOA means that the two countries are keen to maintain the institutional mechanism.
  • The CIS-MOA first was signed between the Joint Staff Headquarters of Pakistan and the US Department of Defence in 2005 for 15 years.

Foundational Agreements of USA

  • The United States signs "Foundational Agreements" with its defence partners.
  • These are "routine" agreements and include:
    1. General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA);
    2. Logistic Support Agreement (LSA);
    3. Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and
    4. Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Intelligence (BECA).

Read all about the Agreements: https://www.iasgyan.in/daily-current-affairs/beca-and-importance-of-three-foundational-pacts-of-india-us-military-cooperation

Signatories

  • The United States has signed over 100 foundational agreements with defence partners around the world.
  • In 2020 India signed the BECA, having already signed GSOMIA in 2002 (and its extension the ISA in 2019), an adapted version of the LSA — Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, and an adapted version of CISMOA — Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018.

PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTION

Q. Consider the following pairs:

1.Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) – Provides with its encrypted communications equipment and systems.                           

2.Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)- Allows the militaries to replenish from each other’s bases.

3.Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)- Access to American geospatial intelligence

4.Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, known as the CIS-MOA – sale of military equipment and hardware to other countries.

How many of the above-mentioned pairs are correctly matched?

A) Only 1

B) Only 2

C) Only 3

D) All

Answer: D) All

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