NEW DELHI: India is ready to sign a military agreement with the United States to share sensitive satellite data, the Ministry of Defence it said on Monday, as New Delhi tries to bridge the gap with the powerful Chinese military.
The agreement will be signed amid a high-level 2 + 2 dialogue between the defense and foreign ministers of the two countries.
The Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, and the Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, arrived in New Delhi today to speak with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, and the Minister of Defense, Rajnath Singh.
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The high-level visit comes at a time when India is in a serious military clash with China along LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The historic defense pact, known as the Basic Agreement for Exchange and Cooperation on Geospatial Cooperation, or SCHOLARSHIP, will allow India to access topographic, nautical and aeronautical data for greater precision of weapons such as missiles and drones.
It would also enable the United States to provide advanced navigation aids and avionics on US-supplied aircraft to India, an Indian defense source said.
American companies have sold more than $ 21 billion worth of weapons to India since 2007, and Washington has been urging the Indian government to sign agreements that allow for the sharing of confidential information and encrypted communications for better use of high-end military equipment.
“The two ministers expressed their satisfaction that the BECA (Basic Agreement for Exchange and Cooperation) agreement will be signed during the visit,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Previously, Rajnath Singh and his US counterpart Mark Esper held talks on various defense and security issues ahead of the 2 + 2 dialogue between the two countries scheduled for Tuesday.
Talks between India and the United States on military issues here on Monday were “fruitful” and aimed to further deepen defense cooperation between the world’s two largest democracies, Rajnath said after their meeting.
In its statement, the Defense Ministry said that Singh and Esper reviewed bilateral defense cooperation that encompasses military-to-military cooperation, secure communication systems and defense trade and information exchange.
The ministry said the two ministers also called for the continuation of existing defense dialogue mechanisms during the pandemic, at all levels, in particular the Military Cooperation Group (MCG).
They also discussed the requirements to expand the deployments of liaison officers at each other’s facilities.
In addition to strengthening military-to-military cooperation and fostering partnership in the Indo-Pacific region, the issue of the rapid supply of US-contracted weapons systems to India featured prominently in the discussions.
Sources said that, while deliberating on regional security challenges, the two sides briefly touched India’s border row with China in eastern Ladakh.
Defense ties between India and the US have improved in recent years. In June 2016, the US designated India as a “senior defense partner” with the intention of elevating defense trade and technology exchange to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners.
The two countries signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their armies to use each other’s bases to repair and resupply supplies, as well as provide deeper cooperation.
The two countries signed another pact called COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 that provides for interoperability between the two armies and provides for the sale of high-end technology from the US to India.
According to the US government, India maintains the largest fleet of C-17 and P-8 aircraft outside of the US, and as of 2020, Washington has authorized more than $ 20 billion in defense sales. to India.
(With inputs from agencies)
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