Following the news that the US and India signed the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA);

Tushar M, Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“BECA is anticipated to significantly enhance the geospatial cooperation between the US and India. It is the last of four foundational agreements signed by India and US, which will facilitate increased military cooperation between the two countries while increasing the layers of data accessible to India for regional operations.

“BECA pertains to sharing of high value and critical geospatial intelligence including geomagnetic data, maps, gravity data, geodetic data, geophysical data, and aeronautical & nautical charts for defence applications. Under the agreement, the US would also share the procedural information regarding the standardization of formats and methods for the collection and processing of geospatial intelligence with India.

“The sharing of geospatial intelligence is expected to improve the long-range navigation and targeting accuracy of Indian stand-off weapons like ballistic and cruise missiles. Considering the present Sino-Indian border dispute, it provides India with crucial geospatial data of the conflict area. Furthermore, it may facilitate the acquisition and operation of American built intelligence, surveillance; reconnaissance (ISR) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as Reaper and Sea Guardian. India and the US are also working on a maritime information agreement to enhance naval cooperation in the strategically important Indian Ocean Region (IOR).”