Rajnath Singh holds talks with US counterpart, to sign BECA today

New Delhi, Oct 27: In a significant step, India and the US plan to sign a significant pact, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) that will facilitate the sharing of real-time geo-spatial intelligence, information on maps, and satellite images for defense.

 

This came after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had a bilateral meeting his American counterpart Dr. Mark T. Esper ahead of the 2+2 ministerial meeting. Esper is in India along with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for the 2+2 ministerial dialogue slated for Tuesday. The BECA will be signed at that meeting. "The two ministers expressed satisfaction that agreement of BECA will be signed during the visit," the Ministry of Defence stated.

 

BECA will allow geospatial mapping of the landmass. This mapping will generate images that can be used to accurately operate drones and long-range missiles. The contours of the landmass have to be known accurately to achieve a precision strike from huge distances.

 

 

The BECA, will also help to share miliatry information including nautical and aeronautical charts and geodetic, geophysical, geomagnetic and gravity data. This will result in boost the Indian military’s accuracy of automated hardware systems and weapons like cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones.

 

This pact would be the last of the three ‘foundational agreements’ defining the bilateral ties between both the countries. The first pact was the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Association which was signed in August 2016, permitting the respective militaries to replenish material and fuel from each other’s bases.

 

 

In 2018, the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement was signed that facilitates access to advanced defence systems and enables India to optimally utilise its existing US-origin platforms. In December last, India and the US escalated their strategic ties by inking the Industrial Security Annex.

 

The two ministers reviewed bilateral defence cooperation spanning military to military cooperation, secure communication systems and information sharing, defence trade and industrial issues and also discussed ways to take bilateral cooperation forward.

 

Both the ministers expressed satisfaction at the close engagements between the respective Armed Forces. They also discussed potential new areas of cooperation, both at Service to Service level and at the joint level. They called for the continuation of existing defence dialogue mechanisms during the pandemic, at all levels, particularly the Military Cooperation Group (MCG). They also discussed the requirements of expanding deployments of liaison officers.

 

On the other hand, Singh elaborated upon the initiatives under the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' to encourage investments in the defence industry in India and invited US companies to make avail of the liberalized policies and the favorable Defence Industry ecosystem in India. US Secretary of Defence welcomed Australia’s participation in the exercise MALABAR 2020.