India and the United States on Tuesday signed two landmark defence pacts in New Delhi at the end of the third 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. The first deal was the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Technical Cooperation in Earth Observations and Earth Sciences.
BECA allows the US to share satellite and other surveillance data to improve India’s navigation and targeting capabilities. It would improve the accuracy of India’s automated hardware systems and weapons like cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones.
Addressing media after the Dialogue, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T. Esper said Washington would stand with New Delhi to deal with growing security challenges in the region.
"The US will stand with India in its efforts to defend its sovereignty and its liberty... Our nations are committed to working together in expanding our partnerships across many fronts," said Pompeo.
The statement comes amid a bitter border dispute between India and China in the Ladakh region.
The border tension erupted into a violent clash in mid-June, killing 20 Indian soldiers and forcing New Delhi to move more troops and military assets closer to the disputed border.
Taking on China, the US Secretary of State said the Coronavirus pandemic that “came from Wuhan” has set off a “robust discussion” about the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“I'm glad to say India and the US are taking all steps to strengthen cooperation against all threats and not just those posed by the CCP,’’ he added.
Earlier, in a tweet, the US State Department said the Chinese Communist Party poses a real threat.
“We want China to engage on the world stage the way we ask every other nation to,’’ read the tweet.
— Department of State (@StateDept) October 26, 2020
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said both sides had discussed the situation in the neighbourhood and asserted “cross-border terrorism is unacceptable.”
Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the military-to-military cooperation was progressing very well.
“We also explored probable capacity building and other joint cooperation activities in third countries including our neighbourhood and beyond..... Both sides agreed to comprehend the requirements and initiate processes for joint development of requisite systems and expertise,” said Rajnath Singh.
New Delhi and Washington also signed three other pacts – cooperation with the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, Electronic Exchange of Customs Data and cooperation in the field of Ayurveda and Cancer Research.
How will BECA help India?
BECA is one of the basic deals that the United States signs with close partners. It enables the sharing of geospatial information, including nautical and aeronautical charts. The complete data, backed by highly accurate American satellites, helps in navigation as well as targeting military assets.
The pact facilitates both the countries exchanging maps, nautical and aeronautical charts, commercial and other unclassified imagery, geodetic, geophysical, geomagnetic and gravity data.
Apart from the standard data, the agreement includes the sharing of classified information as well, with safeguards in place to ensure that it is not shared with any third party.
