Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement or BECA, was signed as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held the third edition of the 2+2 talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper, in New Delhi. This agreement, BECA gives India access to classified geo-spatial data as well as critical information having significant military applications from the US. The agreement got signed in an environment of a conflict-ridden Asia, and in an Asia-Pacific, where US is seeking more integral participation by India in the Quad. It is the fourth and final “foundational” agreement based on an understanding the US has with India, and will allow India to gain access to precision data and topographical images on a real-time basis from the United States Milstar satellites (Military satellites). The signing of the long-deliberated and negotiated defence pact comes in the backdrop of ongoing standoff between India & China in eastern Ladakh (Galwan conflict).

What are the 2+2 talks

The 2+2 talks are dialogues between two appointed ministers from each participating country. Issues of strategic and security interests are discussed in this meeting between the two countries. Defense and foreign ministers or secretaries meet with their counterparts from another country. India holds such talks with Australia and, Japan at the foreign secretary and defense secretary-level while it holds ministerial-level talks only with the USA.  Apart from India, the United States holds such ministerial dialogues with Australia and Japan also. The 2+2 dialogue has replaced the previously held Strategic and Commercial Dialogue between the foreign and commerce ministers of the two countries.

The Defence Trade and Technology Initiative (DTTI) was formed in 2012 between the US and India, to enhance the bilateral relations in defence by venturing into the field of advanced defence research and development and manufacturing. The aim was to strengthen the US and India’s defence industrial base by moving away from the traditional “buyer-seller” dynamic toward a more collaborative approach. This would be through exploring new areas of technological collaboration through co-development and co-production. The enabling agreements which have been signed between the two countries are GSOMIA, LEMOA and COMCASA. These agreements along with BECA, which got signed recently, would enhance cooperation and interoperability between the armed forces of the two democracies. The signing of the final agreement under the DTTI roof arrives as an important milestone in the Indo-US relations after the landmark Nuclear deal between the two countries.