India and the US have signed five important pacts which include the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA), that will allow India access to crucial data and images, and an agreement for the electronic exchange of customs data between the Postal Operators in both countries.
The agreements, which also include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for technical cooperation in Earth Observations and Earth Sciences; an arrangement extending the duration of the MoU on cooperation with the Global Center for Nuclear Energy Partnership; and a letter of intent for cooperation in the area of alternative medicines, were announced during the third India-US 2+2 Dialogue on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo, and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper, participated in the Dialogue with their Indian counterparts, Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
“We have a lot to discuss today, from cooperating on defeating the pandemic that originated in Wuhan, to confronting the Chinese Communist Party’s threats to security and freedom, to promoting peace and stability throughout the region,” Pompeo said in his opening remarks at the meeting.
“The 2+2 dialogue has a pol-mil agenda that underlines our close bilateral relationship. Our national security convergences have grown in a more multi-polar world,” said Jaishankar in his speech at the 2+2 Dialogue.
Ensuring peace, harmony
“We reiterated the importance of peace, stability and prosperity for all countries in this region. As Raksha Mantri stated, this is possible only by upholding the rules-based international order, ensuring the freedom of navigation in international seas, promoting open connectivity and respecting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states,” he added. “The discussions also covered developments in our neighbouring countries and we made it clear that cross-border terrorism is completely unacceptable,” he said. The Foreign Minister, however, did not make any direct reference to India’s ongoing conflict with China along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh or to Pakistan in his speech.
BECA pact
The signing of the BECA could prove to be very important for India as it is supposed to provide it access to classified geo-spatial data and topographical images, which could be crucial during a potential military conflict.
Esper, in his opening statement, said that the focus of India and the US must now be on institutionalising and regularising cooperation to meet the challenges of the day and uphold the principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific well into the future. The importance of Quad — a grouping of the US, India, Japan and Australia, viewed by many as a bloc to counter the growing influence of China globally — was also highlighted by both sides in the meeting.
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