Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)

The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)

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

BECA

• The agreement pertains to exchange of Geospatial-Intelligence information for use by the governments for defence and other purposes.
• It will allow India and the US to share military information including advanced satellite and topographic data such as maps, nautical and aeronautical charts and geodetic, geophysical, geomagnetic and gravity data.
• 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.
• The pact includes a provision of sharing classified information with safeguards to prevent it from being shared with any third party.
• BECA is to help India and the US counter growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

2+2 Talks:

The 2+2 dialogue is the highest-level(Ministerial) institutional mechanism between India and the USA that brings together the perspectives of the two countries on foreign policy, defence and strategic issues.

• Strengthening the Defense and Security Partnership
• Partners in the Indo-Pacific and Beyond
• Promoting Prosperity and People-to-People Ties

India-US defence deal

The previous three are

• The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) signed in 2002. An extension – the Industrial Security Annex (ISA) was signed in 2019.
• The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016.
• The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) in 2018.

Significance and benefits for India from BECA 

• The BECA will allow US armed forces to provide advanced navigational aids and avionics on US-supplied aircraft to India.
• Sharing geospatial intelligence with the US through BECA will boost the Indian military’s accuracy of automated hardware systems and weapons like cruise missiles, ballistic missiles and drones.
• It is a key step for India when it comes to acquiring armed drones such as MQ-9B from the US.

Way Forward

• Strategic Hedging.
• 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.