The fourth and the final foundational military pact — the 'Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation' or BECA has been signed between India and the US.

This expands information sharing between the countries' Armed forces. It allows India to gain access to geospatial data from the United States’ military satellites. This could include nautical and aeronautical charts, satellite images, commercial and other unclassified imagery, geophysical, geomagnetic and gravity data, etc. But the US military has as much to gain from it, as India does.

In the backdrop of the upcoming US Elections and the Indo-China standoff at the LAC, this crucial deal was signed in the third annual ‘2+2’ ministerial-level talks attended by Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

But what does it mean for India’s defence, especially in context of the ongoing tensions with China? Tune in!

References:

2+2 today, decks cleared for key India-US defence agreement

Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow, ORF

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