India, US clinch defence pact on satellite data

Published October 27, 2020
This file photo shows US President Donald Trump (R) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. — Reuters/File
This file photo shows US President Donald Trump (R) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. — Reuters/File

NEW DELHI: India will sign a military agreement with the United States for sharing of sensitive satellite data, the defence ministry said on Monday, as the two sides began a top-level security dialogue aimed at countering China’s growing power in the region.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper flew into New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders at a time when India is locked in its most serious military standoff with China at the disputed Himalayan border in decades.

Washington, for its part, has also ramped the diplomatic pressure on China, as ties worsen over a range of issues from Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus to its imposition of a new security law in Hong Kong and ambitions in the South China Sea.

Ahead of the formal two-plus-two talks on Tuesday involving top diplomats and military officials, Esper met his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh and the two men discussed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation that is ready for signing, the Indian defence ministry said.

“The two ministers expressed satisfaction that agreement of BECA will be signed during the visit,” the ministry said in a statement.

The accord would provide India with access to a range of topographical, nautical and aeronautical data that is considered vital for targeting of missiles and armed drones.

It would also allow the United States to provide advanced navigational aids and avionics on US-supplied aircraft to India, an Indian defence source said.

US companies have sold India more than $21 billion of weapons since 2007 and Washington has been urging the Indian government to sign agreements allowing for sharing of sensitive information and encrypted communications for better use of the high-end military equipment.

Esper also welcomed Australia’s participation in next month’s naval exercises involving India, United States and Japan off the Bay of Bengal.

China has previously opposed such multilateral wargames, seeing them as aimed against it and India had long resisted expanding them for that reason.

But the border tension with China this summer, which erupted in a clash killing 20 Indian soldiers, has hardened the public mood against Beijing and is driving closer ties with the United States, analysts say.

“Our talks today were fruitful, aimed at further deepening defence cooperation in a wide range of areas,” Singh said in a tweet.

Pompeo separately met Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. There was no immediate word on that meeting.

After India, Pompeo will travel to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, two Indian Ocean countries where China has financed and built various infrastructure, to the alarm of India and the United States.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2020

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.