BECA to open new avenues for information sharing, says Rajnath Singh

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday stressed that the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) would open new avenues in information sharing at the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.

While US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper said that both the countries are meeting the "challenges of the day" and principles of a "free and open India-Pacific".

"Our economies have suffered losses. We're trying to revive industries & service sectors. Our partnership becomes more important in view of the current challenges we're facing. We both believe in rule-based order & democracy," Singh said during the ministerial meeting.

He added, "We are happy that we've completed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement), which will open new avenues in the information sharing. We are eager to discuss further issues with the US."

"We've strengthened our defence and security partnership especially over the past year during which we have advanced our regional security and information sharing. Our cooperation meets the challenges of the day and principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific," Esper said.

Singh and Esper held talks yesterday during which the defence ministers of the two countries 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 Indian Defence Ministry has announced that the two sides will sign the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) that would enhance the geospatial cooperation between them and it is likely to help in improving the accuracy of missile systems of India.

On Monday, the two US secretaries held separate talks with Indian counterparts -- S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh.

The Indian Defence Ministry announced following the meeting between Esper and Singh that "the two Ministers expressed satisfaction that agreement of BECA will be signed during the visit."

( With inputs from ANI )