Renewal of CISMOA: Analysing the US-Pakistan Pact and its Implications for South Asia

• Two years after its hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, renewing the CISMOA agreement shows that the United States is still interested in the region contrary to what many geopolitical experts believed.
• The approval of the Pakistan cabinet to renew CISMOA shows that the US and Pakistan are on the path to redeveloping their relationship and chances of a military deal can not be ruled out.
• India’s concern lies in the type of military hardware the US shares with Pakistan and whether they can be used against India.

For the United States, the strategic importance of South Asia is a roller-coaster thing. After WWII, US policymakers viewed South Asia as a strategic backwater. However, later on, Pakistan became part of a US-led military alliance such as SEATO and CENTO. At the same time, India was the leading member of the Non-Aligned Movement. This US-Pakistan military alliance politics proved ineffective for Pakistan in the war of 1971 with India.  

It was in the late 1970s when the US was critically involved in South Asia, thanks to Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. Later, after the end of the Cold War, US interest deepened in South Asia as the region’s importance increased due to India’s economic liberalisation, the nuclearization of India and Pakistan and Afghanistan’s role in the 9/11 attacks. This terror attack on US soil led the US to make Pakistan a partner in its war against terrorism. The partnership between the US and Pakistan led to the signing of one of four foundational agreements, the US-Pakistan CIS-MOA pact in 2005 for fifteen years.  

Recent Developments

The CIS-MOA pact that was signed between the US and Pakistan in 2005 lapsed in 2020. It was supposed to be renewed in 2020 but due to an unfavourable political scenario and deteriorating relationship between Islamabad and Washington, it was not a priority. One of the reasons for their deteriorating relationship is the anti-American rhetoric of former PM Imran Khan. After the fall of the government of Khan in 2022, PM Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan’s military establishment worked to improve the Washington-Islamabad relationship.

Recently, the Pakistan cabinet approved the renewal of this agreement. A few days before approval, a meeting was held between US Central Command Chief General Michael Erik Kurilla and Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir in which they both agreed to further enhance their relations, including in the defence sector.  

Foundational Agreements

Foundational agreements are the set of four agreements that the US uses to sign with its friendly countries to enhance military cooperation, interoperability and strategic alignment. These four foundational agreements are the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), Logistic Support Agreement (LSA), Communications and Information Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA) and Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Intelligence (BECA).

The foundational agreements of CISMOA are a set of four agreements that the US uses to sign with its friendly countries to enhance military cooperation, interoperability and strategic alignment.

These four agreements are described as routine agreements by the Pentagon. The CISMOA agreement will enhance the capability of military communication and information sharing between the US and Pakistan. This agreement is designed to enable two countries to share communication and exchange information on approved equipment during bilateral and multilateral training exercises and operations.  

Implications for South Asia

This approval of the Pakistan cabinet to renew CISMOA clarifies that the US and Pakistan are on the path to redeveloping their relationship. As they are improving their relationship, chances of any important military deal can not be ruled out. The question that arises here is, should India be concerned about it? 

First of all, we need to know that India and the US have already signed all four foundational agreements. However, instead of CISMOA, they signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement), a slightly different one to CISMOA. Whereas, CISMOA is the first foundational agreement that the US and Pakistan are going to renew. 

Currently, India’s concern may lie in what type of military hardware the US is sharing with Pakistan and if that can be used against India. There is also the possibility that later they will sign the rest of the three agreements which will deepen their relationship and sell different defence equipment to equip Pakistan’s military with more sophisticated weapons. 

Afghanistan should also be concerned about the renewal of the agreement as Pakistan can use newly acquired weapons from the US against the TTP.

However, given the economic condition of Pakistan; Washington-New Delhi’s deep relationship and the United States’s need for India to counter China’s challenge we can assume that Washington will not go that far to hamper India’s interests. But more equipped Pakistan’s military will challenge India’s security directly or indirectly.

In South Asia, it is not only India but Afghanistan that should also be concerned about this agreement. TTP (Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan) targets Pakistan and uses areas in Afghanistan near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to hide. Pakistan can use newly acquired weapons against the TTP in Afghanistan if Pakistan gets military hardware from the US under this agreement.

Every time the US makes military agreements with Pakistan, it claims that this is to improve the counter-terrorist capability of Pakistan and it has nothing to target any other country. But history proved otherwise.   

Conclusion

After the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, many geopolitical experts are of the opinion that South Asia’s strategic importance in US policymaker’s views has been reduced to some extent. But even today, the United States is interested in the region. Renewing the CISMOA agreement is an example of proving the US’s interest in the region. For India, it is important to be watchful and scrutinise the advancements in US-Pakistan relations. 

_{(Ashish is a research scholar pursuing a Ph.D. from Amity University Noida)}

Ashish Keserwani