India, US sign five documents including BECA during 2+2 Ministerial meet
Oct 27, 2020
New Delhi [India], October 27 : India and the United States on Tuesday signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) and four more documents during the third 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the BECA was signed between the Ministry of Defence and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Department of Defense of United States of America.
BECA allows the militaries of the two countries to share geospatial information, high-end military technology and classified satellite data on defence-related issues.
During the meet, the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Technical Cooperation in Earth Observations and Earth Sciences.
The Agreement for the Electronic Exchange of Customs Data between the India Post and United States Postal Service was also signed.
"Letter of Intent was signed between the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy and the Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Government of the US for cooperation in the field of Ayurveda and Cancer Research," the MEA said.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper had arrived in India on Monday for the first leg of their four-nation tour. They have now left for Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia. While in India he led the US delegation including Defense Secretary Mark Esper for the 2+2 ministerial dialogue.
The 2+2 India-US ministerial dialogue was held between Pompeo, Esper and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
