The signing of the Basic Agreement on Exchange and Cooperation for Geospatial Cooperation (BECA), just days before a highly controversial US election, reflects the close cooperation of the Indian government with the Trump administration, as well as its confidence that the pact will have the bipartisan support. In America.
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Access to high-quality geospatial data will be possible after India and the United States sign their fourth and final founding BECA military pact during the “two plus two” dialogue on Tuesday. The two are also set to sign the Maritime Information Exchange Technical Agreement (MISTA) to enhance cooperation between their navies.
BECA’s signature for highly classified geospatial intelligence sharing, with no risk of compromise, was officially announced after Defense Minister Rajnath Singh held a delegation-level meeting with his US counterpart Mark Esper on Monday. in the afternoon.
India is pleased to welcome the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Dr. Mark Esper. Our talks today were fruitful, directed to fu… https://t.co/9HHTLpoKxQ
– Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) 1603710711000
After a separate meeting with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: “We see each other for who we are: great democracies, global powers and very good friends.”
The two sides discussed various bilateral measures to further enhance their already expansive defense cooperation and intelligence sharing, as well as developments in the Indo-Pacific region in the context of India’s ongoing military confrontation in eastern India. Ladakh with China.
With China indulging in expansionary and belligerent behavior throughout the Indo-Pacific region, Esper also welcomed India’s recent decision to invite Australia to participate in its top-tier Malabar trilateral naval exercise with the US and Japan. next month.
BECA inking will be a great lesson. India signed the General Military Information Security Agreement (GSOMIA) with the US in 2002, followed by the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, and later the Communications, Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA). ) in 2018.
TOI had reported last week that India and the US were ready to ink BECA, which had been on fire for more than a decade, during the two-plus-two dialogue on Tuesday.
The previous UPA regime had blocked LEMOA, COMCASA and BECA during its 10-year tenure on the grounds that it would compromise India’s “strategic autonomy”. In its initial period, the UPA was stopped by the left as a support party. But the NDA government has emphasized that there are “enough India-specific safeguards” built into these pacts to protect the country’s sovereign interests.
LEMOA provides reciprocal logistical support, such as docking and refueling facilities for each other’s warships and aircraft, while COMCASA has paved the way for India to gain greater access to advanced military technologies with secure and encrypted communications and links. data like Predator-B armed or Sea Guardian Drones
There are still some lingering concerns about BECA, especially as India has its own strong satellite imaging capabilities. “But we don’t have the capabilities that provide accurate, real-time data for long-range missile navigation and targeting,” said one official.
The continuing military confrontation with an uncompromising China in eastern Ladakh has accelerated the inking of BECA, as has the decision to invite Australia to the Malabar naval exercise last week.
The United States, of course, is providing military intelligence to India during the current crisis as it did during the 73-day military confrontation in Doklam near the Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet triple junction in June-August 2017. “SCHOLARSHIP will further soften the process, ”he said.
China will also be in the spotlight when the 24th edition of Malabar is held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in two phases, the first and the third week of November. It will be the first time that the “Quad” countries will come together for combat maneuvers on the high seas after a gap of 13 years.
The United States, of course, has secured lucrative $ 21 billion worth of Indian defense deals since 2007, including $ 3 billion for 24 naval MH-60 ‘Romeo’ helicopters and six Apache attack helicopters signed during the President Donald Trump’s visit here in February.
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