MEA Debunks Viral Claim of US Attack on Iran From Western India, Calls It ‘Fake News’

A viral social media content prompted the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in India to release a scathing fake news warning once the United States allegedly requested that India allow the United States to use its country to attack Iran. The explanation was through the official fact-check statement of the MEA on the social media platform X.

The viral accusation was by an American journalist who had claimed that the US was looking into the idea of utilizing western India within the framework of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) to aid a military asset. The post also made conjectures on a possible offshore placement off the Konkan coast connecting it to the current Iranian-US conflict.

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The MEA however rejected the claims implying that no development has occurred. “Fake News Alert! The post of the MEA said, please remain vigilant to such false and baseless allegations and postings on social media!

This was as a reply to the post by Dutta which said: The US has asked permission from India to support a military asset that will be used to bomb Iran from Western India. In bureaucratic terms it means an interpretation of the LEMOA.”

"No Indian Navy berth is long enough to host an aircraft carrier that is the size of nine football fields from home goal to a Romario kick. So, it will be at anchorage while the galleys (kitchens) will be filled up. The US military asset will be at anchorage off the Konkan coast,” he further wrote.

What is LEMOA?

The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement LEMOA is a bilateral logistics agreement between the United States and India signed in 2016. It enables the military of both nations to refuel and repair their military installations as well as get supplies and rest on a reimbursable scale.

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It, however, does not admit basing of troops or automatic military action out of each other soil and any demand must be given a case-by-case approval.

The way nations exercise military action on the territory of another country.

The other country can be used by nations to carry out military action on their land either via an agreement or informal permission.

These are Status of Forces Agreements (SOFA), logistics agreements such as LEMOA, or larger defence agreements such as the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty, and NATO arrangements under NATO.

In case of an example, the US stationed bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the course of the Gulf War and in the Incirlik base in Turkey when the Iraq War took place. This usage is subject to the approval of the host nation, strategic alignment and legal conditions that have operational boundaries.

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