On October 27, 2020, a foreign and defence ministerial level dialogue took place in New Delhi between India and the US in which the two nations inked five pacts, including the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) for ‘greater geospatial information-sharing’ between the armed forces of the two countries. At the conclusion of the third edition of the 2+2 Dialogue, United States secretary of state Michael R. Pompeo expressed his country’s willingness to stand with India to deal with any threat and to support for India’s efforts to ‘defend its sovereignty’, besides paying tributes to the memory of the 20 Indian troops, martyred in a clash with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Galwan valley in the Ladakh sector in mid-June.
Agreements known as LEMOA and COMCASA have already been signed, essentially laying the foundation for deeper military cooperation. This third defence pact signed between India and the US in the past four years, it will enable India to use US geospatial intelligence and satellite imagery to improve the accuracy of missiles and drones. Both the countries ‘shared assessment of the security situation across the Indo Pacific’ and decided to boost bilateral cooperation between their navies, strengthening overall defence ties as part of their existing Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.
‘2 + 2 Dialogue’
The goal of a ‘two plus two dialogue’ is to establish a diplomatic, yet fruitful, conversion between two countries’ respective heads of defence and external affairs.
A ‘two plus two dialogue’ is a term—adopted in foreign negotiations—used for installation of a dialogue mechanism between two countries’ defence and external affairs ministries. Simply put ‘two lus two dialogue’ is an expression used to indicate that two appointed ministers from each country, the ministers of defence and external affairs in this case, will meet up to discuss the two countries’ strategic and security interests. The goal is to establish a diplomatic, yet fruitful, conversation between the two countries’ respectives heads of defence and external affairs.
Japan is known to draw from the format ‘two plus two dialogue’ for years now. Japan leans on this mechanism for its interactions with the US, France, Russia and Australia. India, on the other hand, has established the 2+2 dialogue primarily with Japan. Both the countries have practised a ‘two plus two dialogue’ mechanism almost annually, held considerably before the meeting of the two primer minsters, since 2010. This meeting betwen the external affairs and defence minister of two countries helps amass the issues both the prime ministers need to tackle later in their scheduled meetings.
BECA
The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) involves geospatial intelligence and sharing information on maps and satellite images for defence. We know that anyone who sails a ship, flies an aircraft, fights wars, locates targets, responds to natural disasters, or even navigates with a cell phone relies on geospatial intelligence.
Signing BECA will allow India to use the US’s advanced geospatial intelligence and enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones. It will give access to topographical and aeronautical data and products that will aid navigation and targeting. BECA will provide Indian military systems with a high-quality GPS to navigate, and missiles with real-time intelligence to precisely target the adversary.
LEMOA and COMCASA
The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) was signed between India and the US in August 2016. It allows the military of each country to replenish from the other’s bases: access supplies, spare parts, and services from the other country’s land facilities, air bases, and ports, which can then be reimbursed. This is extremely useful for Navy-to-Navy cooperation, as the US and India are working closely in the Indo-Pacific.
To put this simply, it is like going to a friend’s garage to refuel one’s car and getting repairs done, thereby exposing the car and technology to the friend, and that requires trust. In military terms, one’s naval ships are strategic assets and use of another country’s base would expose one’s military asset to the host.
The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed in September 2018, after the first 2+2. It allows the US to provide India with its encrypted communications equipment and systems so that Indian and US military commanders, aircraft, and ships can communicate through secure networks in peace and war.
While LEMOA means one partner trusts the other enough to expose its valuable assets, COMCASA means one is confident that it can rely on encrypted systems to connect the two militaries, and BECA means it can share highly classified information in real time without any fear of being compromised. This proves the level of trust that has developed between the two countries and their militaries.
Amid the longest stand-off on the India-China border in three decades, India and the US have intensified under-the-radar intelligence and military cooperation at an unprecedented level, especially since June 2020.
The cooperation includes sharing of high-end satellite images, telephone intercepts, and data sharing of Chinese troops and weapons deployment along the 3,488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The armed forces have used at least five American platforms at the LAC—C–17 Globemaster III for military transport, Boeing’s Chinook CH–47 as heavy-lift helicopters, Boeing’s Apache as tank-killers, P–8I Poseidon for overland reconnaissance, and Lockheed Martin’s C–130J for airlifting troops.
With the Chinese aggression presenting itself clearly, New Delhi’s strategic embrace of Washington is a welcome move.
Courtesy: The Indian Express, Indian Defence News