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With Eye on China, India and US Sign Landmark Military Agreement

Anjana Pasricha

   NEW DELHI - India and the United States have signed a landmark
   agreement to share military information and vowed to ramp up security
   and strategic ties as top U.S. officials emphasized the need for
   enhanced cooperation to confront Chinese assertiveness in the
   Indo-Pacific region.

   "Our leaders and our citizens see with increasing clarity that the CCP
   (Chinese Communist Party) is no friend to democracy, the rule of law,
   transparency, nor to freedom of navigation, the foundation of a free
   and open and prosperous Indo-Pacific," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
   told reporters in New Delhi. He and U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper
   met their Indian counterparts at an annual 2+2 ministerial dialogue on
   Tuesday.

   New Delhi was the first stop of a four-nation Asia tour that Pompeo has
   said will focus on the "threats" posed by China.

   The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement on Geospatial Cooperation
   (BECA) signed on Tuesday will give India access to topographical and
   aeronautical data considered vital for targeting missiles and armed
   drones.

   It is the last of four pacts that the two countries have sealed in
   recent years, setting the ground for significantly bolstering their
   military partnership.

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