Context:

At the 2+2 meeting, India & US have signed the intelligence-sharing pact BECA. With key deals LEMOA and COMCASA already signed, what does it mean for defence, particularly in light of the LAC standoff.

Explain (BECA)

• The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement largely pertain to geospatial intelligence and sharing information on maps and satellite images for defence.
• 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.

The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA)

• The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement was signed between India and the US in 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. The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA).

The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement was signed in 2018.

• 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. Key-deals (in-short)
• 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.
• BECA means it can share highly classified information in real-time without fear of being compromised.

2+2 meeting

• It is the highest-level institutional ministerial meeting between the two countries.
• It is a format of dialogue the counterparts from another country.
• India holds 2+2 meetings with Australia, Japan, and the USA.