BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement)

• The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement mainly refer to an agreement on the sharing of geospatial intelligence, information on maps and satellite images for defence.
  • According to officials, anyone who sails a ship flies an aircraft, fights wars, locates targets, responds to natural disasters, or even navigates with a cellphone relies on geospatial intelligence.
• Signing BECA will allow India to use the US’s advanced geospatial intelligence and enhance the accuracy of automated systems and weapons like missiles and armed drones.
• BECA will provide Indian military systems with a high-quality GPS to navigate and missiles with real-time intelligence to precisely target the enemy.
• This could be a key for Air Force-to-Air Force cooperation as India and the US have stepped up efforts to sign the pact during the upcoming 2+2.