Context: The U.S. is expecting India to sign the last foundational agreement, Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial cooperation (BECA), at the next India-U.S. 2+2 ministerial dialogue which is likely to held in October end.

Foundational agreements between India and the US
So far, India has signed three foundational agreements:

• The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).
• The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA).
• The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was signed a long time ago. An extension to the GSOMIA, the Industrial Security Annex (ISA), was signed at the last 2+2 dialogue.

About BECA

• This agreement would facilitate exchange of geospatial information between India and United States for both military and civilian use.

Significance and benefits for India from BECA:

• BECA will allow India to use US expertise on geospatial intelligence and to enhance military accuracy of automated hardware systems and weapons like cruise, ballistic missiles and drones.
• BECA is an important precursor to India acquiring armed unmanned aerial vehicles such as the Predator-B from the USA. Predator-B uses spatial data for accurate strikes on enemy targets.
• BECA is one of the four foundational military communication agreements between the two countries. The other three being GSOMIA, LEMOA, CISMOA.
• Initially, India had reservations to geospatial mapping on the grounds of national security, but they were later addressed by mutual dialogue and discussion between the two countries.

What is 2+2 Dialogue?

• The 2+2 dialogue is the highest-level institutional mechanism between India and USA that brings together the perspectives of the two countries on foreign policy, defence and strategic issues.
• The new dialogue format was agreed to between the India and the US during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington D.C. in June, 2017.
• The dialogue mechanism includes defence and foreign ministers of the two countries.
• It replaced India-U.S. Strategic and Commercial Dialogue for trade and commercial issues.

Other Maritime Developments Between India and the USA

• There has been a sharp increase in India’s maritime interactions with the Quad countries on a bilateral basis centred around information sharing for improved Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) in the Indian Ocean Region and Indo-Pacific.

MDA is defined by the International Maritime Organization as the effective understanding of anything associated with the maritime domain that could impact the security, safety, economy, or environment of a country.

• Recently, India posted a liaison officer at the USA Navy Central Command in Bahrain.

A maritime information agreement is also under active deliberation between India and the U.S. Once concluded, India will have such arrangements with all Quad countries — Australia, Japan and the U.S.

• Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is the informal strategic dialogue between India, USA, Japan and Australia with a shared objective to ensure and support a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

Road Ahead

• Signing BECA is crucial for India in order to neutralise the Russia-China-Pakistan axis in the maritime domain and for the stability of the Indo-Pacific region. The acquisition of aerial platforms like the USA naval helicopters and multi-role fighters is a key priority for India in the current scenario of increasing Indo-China conflict.
• The increase in India’s maritime interactions with the Quad countries centred around information sharing for improved MDA in the Indian Ocean Region and Indo-Pacific will strengthen India’s position internationally.
• Strategic hedging is the key to move forward in relationships with powerful countries like the USA. India and the USA must now strive to complete the unfinished agreements and set the course for a Comprehensive Strategic Global Partnership.