NEW DELHI: Setting the stage for the signing of two crucial defence and information-sharing deals in the third 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper held bilateral talks with their respective counterparts, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, here on Monday.
“The two ministers (Singh and Esper) 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. The two ministers expressed satisfaction that agreement of BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for geo-spatial cooperation) will be signed during the visit,” read a Ministry of Defence statement released after the meeting.
The top US officials are in India for the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue during which BECA and MISTA (Maritime Information Sharing Technical Arrangement) will be signed.
While BECA gives India access to accurate US satellite data for navigation and precision military targets, MISTA will help in enhanced information and intelligence sharing between the two countries.
The 2+2 dialogue comes amid border tensions with China. The US has condemned China’s aggressive actions along the LAC and the South China Sea and the two US officials will likely be canvassing their anti-China stance when they visit Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Indonesia on their way back to the US.
EAM , Pompeo review progress in bilateral ties
Meanwhile, Jaishankar called on Pompeo where the two leaders followed up on their Tokyo discussions which were focussed on key bilateral, regional and global issues.
“They reviewed progress in bilateral ties over last four years and expressed satisfaction that they have grown in virtually every domain including trade, energy, defence and education.
They noted that the practice of consultations on foreign policy issues has also expanded, including regional and multilateral; working more closely in multilateral and plurilateral formats,” a source said.
The EAM stressed on the uniqueness of our technology and talent flow connects and underlined that a knowledge economy with greater data sensitivity makes an even stronger case for collaboration while noting an innovation partnership is central to our future.
“Education is a special bond between us and both sides should work to expand it further,” the source quoted Jaishankar as saying.
Pompeo shared with Jaishankar the US thinking on Afghanistan while the EAM highlighted India’s stakes and its continuing concern that decisions should be made by Afghans themselves. Jaishankar also made it clear that cross-border terrorism was unacceptable.