INDO-U.S. 2+2 DIALOGUE

March 29, 2019

India and the U.S. reviewed the progress on finalising two key agreements during the 2+2 intercession meeting, apart from reviewing the overall defence cooperation.

About:

background:
- The inaugural 2+2 dialogue was held last September and was chaired by the Defence and External Affairs Ministers and their U.S. counterparts.
- The dialogue is similar to India-Japan 2+2 Dialogue between foreign and defence secretaries of the two countries.
Objective: To elevate and insulate the India-US strategic relationship from trade and commercial disputes between the two nations and replaces the India-US Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.
As the next step in furthering defence cooperation, negotiations are on to conclude the ISA and the BECA.
Industrial Security Annex (ISA):
- It allows sharing of classified information from the U.S. government and American companies with the Indian private sector, which is so far limited to the Indian government and the defence public sector undertakings.
- It is essential as the Indian industry looks for a greater role in defence manufacturing.
Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA):
- It would facilitate exchange of geospatial information between India and United States for both military and civilian use.
- The U.S. has already shared a draft of BECA, the last foundational agreement to be signed.