Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with US Defence Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper, in New Delhi on October 26, 2020.
New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and the visiting US Secretary of Defence Dr. Mark T. Esper, reviewed bilateral defence cooperation spanning military to military cooperation, secure communication systems and information sharing, defence trade and industrial issues and also discussed ways to take bilateral cooperation forward, here today.
Dr. Esper is in India for the third 2+2 Ministerial Meeting. The first two 2+2 Ministerial dialogues were held in New Delhi in September 2018 and in Washington DC in 2019. The agenda for the third Dialogue covers all bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of External Affairs informed.
“Both the Ministers expressed satisfaction at the close engagements between the respective Armed Forces,” a defence ministry release stated. They discussed potential new areas of cooperation, both at Service to Service level and at the joint level. They further called for continuation of existing defence dialogue mechanisms during the pandemic, at all levels, particularly the Military Cooperation Group (MCG). They also discussed requirements of expanding deployments of liaison officers.
The two ministers expressed satisfaction that the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation (BECA) will be signed during the visit. The agreement will give India access to extremely accurate geo-spatial data including nautical and aeronautical charts that will have several military applications.
US Secretary of Defence also welcomed Australia’s participation in the exercise MALABAR 2020.
Singh elaborated upon the initiatives under the Atmanirbhar Bharat to encourage investments in the defence industry in India and invited US companies to make avail of the liberalized policies and the favorable Defence Industry ecosystem in India.
globalbihari bureau
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