Rajnath Singh, his US counterpart Mark Esper discuss 'expansion of defence cooperation'

United States delegation led by Defence Secretary Mark Esper met with the Indian delegation led by defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 26. Other senior officials who joined the high-level talks for ‘deepening defence cooperation’ were Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh. After the talks, Rajnath Singh was quoted by ANI saying that they were “fruitful”. While the sources have revealed that the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) is likely to be signed on October 27.

The signing of BECA will be a significant landmark in US-India strategic cooperation as it allows India to use global geospatial maps of the US for accuracy of stand-off weapons like cruise and ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, before the talks resumed, US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster greeted Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh with elbow bumps amid the COVID-19 pandemic. All officials were seen wearing facemasks at all times even when just Esper and Singh held their separate talks. 

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Pompeo, Esper in India

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo along with ESper and other officials arrived in India on October 26 to hold the third round of 2+2 ministerial dialogues. These talks are aimed at strengthening the strategic ties especially amid the rising influence of China’s Communist Party in the Indo-pacific region.  Apart from the defence secretaries meeting in New Delhi, Pompeo and Esper will also hold high-level 2+2 talks with external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Singh on October 27.

In these talks, it is expected that the officials would cover the full expanse of defence as well as the security ties along with regional and global issues. However, the high-level two-day visit by Pompeo and Esper came at the time India and China are facing a border standoff and US elections being less than two weeks away. US Secretary of State has previously indicated that the dialogue is primarily focussed on the “threats” posed by Beijing. 

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