A 2+2 ministerial meeting between the USA and India will take place next week. The Ministers from India will include the External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T Esper will also be attending . The high-level meeting is expected to take place in New Delhi around 26-27 October.
Amid tensions on LAC between India and China, this meeting is of much importance because The USA and India are expected to sign a defense agreement called Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) which will enable intelligence and information sharing on maps and satellite images for defence. This will share geospatial intelligence with India that will help navigation, drones, and other military operations.
This will be the third 2+2 meeting between India and The USA, while two other meetings have been held successfully and important agreements have been signed. Both the Countries signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in August 2016, which allowed both the Army’s to replenish from the other’s bases and access supplies and land facilities from other countries.
However, both the countries have signed Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement in the first 2+2 dialogue meeting which was held in September 2018. Through this agreement, India has gotten encrypted communications equipment and systems from the US which will help both the militaries communicate through secure networks in peace and war.
