India-US to sign Basic Exchange & Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial cooperation

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Defence Secretary Mark Esper have expressed that they are ‘satisfied with BECA’ (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) and it will be signed on October 27 during the two-day visit, said Defence Ministry. Ahead of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue of Indian and US delegation, both ministers discussed the potential new areas for cooperation at both Service to Service level and at the joint level. Rajnath Singh and Mark Esper reportedly called for a defence dialogue mechanism especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic at all levels. 

After the one-hour-long meeting at the South Block in New Delhi, Singh had announced that the talks were “fruitful” and they aimed at “deepening defence cooperation”. Reportedly, the special focus of Singh-Esper meet was logistical support and maritime cooperation including majorly naval.

Apart from the US delegation led by Esper, the officials that joined the talks 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. Earlier, the sources had revealed that the BECA is expected to be signed on Tuesday. 

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 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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