The Chinese and Pakistani media are rattled over the latest deals made by India and the US in the 2+2 meeting. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary Defence Mark Esper’s recent visit to India and the re-iteration of the strong commitment to provide support through a defence pact BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement), which gives real-time satellite intelligence to New Delhi is indeed a giant leap in cementing strategic ties with the Washington.
America’s geospatial satellites now would provide India with the minutest detail of what is happening on the ground, which will make defending our borders even more precise as it will provide real-time information of what our enemies both to our West and North are up to.
The signing of BECA allows India to use US geospatial intelligence and enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones. It gives access to topographical and aeronautical data and advanced products, which will aid navigation and targeting. It is significant for Air Force-to-Air Force co-operation between both countries. The agreement also includes sharing of high-end satellite images, telephone intercepts, and data exchange on Chinese troops and weapons deployment along the India-China borders as well as borders with Pakistan.
Pompeo stressed the need for the US and India to work together to counter the threat posed by China to security and freedom. He said in his speech in New Delhi “Our friendship and commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific was highly on display when we were in Tokyo this past week and a half for the QUAD meeting that Minister Jaishankar and I had with our Australian and Japanese friends earlier this month.”
Pompeo reiterated that the US will stand with India as it confronts threats to its sovereignty and liberty. He also talked about how India belonged in the UN Security Council and the US will support India’s bid to be in it.
“US and India are taking steps to strengthen our co-operation against all manner of threats and not just those posed by the Chinese Communist Party. Last year, we’ve expanded our cooperation on cyber issues, our navies have held joint exercises in the Indian Ocean,” he added. The joint statement denounced the terror proxies of Pakistan and strongly condemned cross border terrorism including naming Al Qaeda, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let), Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. The statement referred to cross-border terrorism and asked Pakistan to take immediate, sustained and irreversible action on terrorists and terror entities operating from its soil.
“The Ministers called on Pakistan to take an immediate, sustained and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control is used for terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators and planners of all such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai, Uri, and Pathankot,” the statement said.
The ministers also vowed to continue information exchanges about sanctions against terror groups and individuals, as well as efforts to counter the financing and operations of terrorist organisations, radicalism and terrorist use of the internet, and cross-border movement of terrorists. They also vowed to prosecute, rehabilitate, and reintegrate returning terrorist fighters and family members.
US Defence Secretary Esper also targeted at China and said that defence ties remain a key pillar of the overall bilateral relationship between India and the US.
“Based on our shared values and common interests, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, particularly in light of increasing aggression and de-stabilising activities by China,” he added. Both US dignitaries welcomed the inclusion of the Royal Australian Navy in the US-India-Japan Malabar Naval Exercise, which is scheduled to be held in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in November 2020.
The Chinese Communist party mouthpiece ‘The Global Times’ was so rattled over the development that it advised India that by abandoning its traditional diplomatic principles of non-alignment and moving closer to the US, a choice it described as unwise, and India’s status in the eyes of developing countries has apparently greatly diminished and its strategic focus of a traditional geopolitical power gradually lost. Weirdly, The Global times claimed that the pact has largely exposed India's defensive weakness to the US, and the US services may not work as India expects over compatibility issues. Since 70 per cent of Indian weapons were either imported from Russia or were of Russian origin, the US services in the pact may be incompatible with Indian weapons, it said.
Dawn newspaper reported that the Pakistan Establishment was worried and the agreement would increase Pakistan’s strategic dilemma, even though it is being presented as part of efforts to contain China. The report went on to write that the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) was very alarmed “Pakistan has taken note of the signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement. Pakistan has been consistently highlighting the threats posed to strategic stability in South Asia as a result of the provision of advanced military hardware, technologies and knowledge to India.”
The outcome of the third round of the Indo-US bilateral 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue have considerably riled both China and Pakistan..
