India and the United States of America signed several pacts during the recent visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper. The two senior American officials met Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. The key aspect of the discussions is the signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). This agreement will give India access to data available with the US military.
BECA assumes strategic importance due to the simmering tensions with China. US President Donald Trump has stayed the course of his run for re-election on the Chinese virus. Given the Democrats have Indian-American Kamala Harris on the bill, Trump has a winner on his hand by tying up with India against China. US politics aside, India has quite a bit to gain.
New equation
Brigadier (Rtd) Vinod Dutta told APN that in the new geopolitical equation, this initiative is going to give good dividends when both countries are looking for peace and stability in the Indian Ocean region. Moreover, it is a clear-cut signal to China’s abusive behaviour and its expansionist designs.
“Two big democracies, 2 real powers and 2 good friends are coming together. Barring Turkey and some odd countries, the entire world has moved towards India, which is seen as a reasonable, formidable regional power,” Dutta said.
Moreover, in the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, the US polls are focused, as noted above, on the Chinese virus with most Chinese products rotting at the ports, he said.
In a similar vein, Japan has already given a $2.2 billion economic stimulus to help manufacturers uproot production from China and relocate else, Dutta noted.
Equal partners, not master-slave
Ambassador (Rtd) Deepak Vohra, the special adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, countered the criticism of India’s American friendship from several quarters. “It is being said that through BECA, India has fallen into the lap of the US. This is not true. This is a partnership between equals and both have fallen into the lap of each other,” he said.
The Indian Army is more than a match to any military in the world, the US has the world’s most awesome technology and when these two powers combine, no one can dare India, Vohra added. Through geospatial intelligence, India will be in a position to see movements of elephants and ants in real time, he said.
The 9/11 effect
Listing the long Indo-US diplomatic journey, Vohra said 9/11 was a watershed moment after which America’s view of India changed. “This got polished with India’s spectacular progress in information technology and military resilience demonstrated in 1999,” Vohra said.
Perhaps, India is being seen by the US as a factor for stability in the arc of Islamic instability stretching from Nigeria to Indonesia. So what we are seeing in Indo-US defence relations in the last two decades is the convergence of security perception and world vision, he added.
Defence ties between India and USA
The world’s oldest and largest democracies have been evolving a defence deal with each other in the recent past. In 2016, the US gave India major defence partner status putting it at par with other major allies. In 2017, the US Congress passed the National Defence Authorisation Act cementing India’s major defence partner status, Vohra said.
Since then the two countries have inked two major agreements, the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) and the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), and now the BECA, he said.
This indicates the level of trust and comfort in the relations of two countries and a strong message to the world. With the US-India coming together, there is fear and frustration in Beijing and Islamabad, Vohra said.
Amid uncertainties on who will win the US polls, the signing of the BECA deal indicates growing bipartisan support for New Delhi as a bulwark against Beijing despite what occurred in Ladakh.
The Congress on Friday lashed out at BJP president JP Nadda’s accusations that the Opposition party was promoting a politically motivated narrative concerning the situation in Manipur.
The grand old party described Nadda’s letter to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge as a 4D exercise, which means denial, distortion, distraction, and defamation.
Nadda, responding to Kharge’s call for President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention and his claims of the Centre’s total failure in managing the crisis, claimed that the consequences of Congress’s “abject failure” in handling local issues in Manipur during its governance are still being felt today.
Responding to Nadda, Congress General Secretary for Communications Jairam Ramesh stated, “Congress President Kharge ji wrote to the President of India on Manipur. Apparently, to counter that letter, the BJP President has now written to the Congress President.”
Ramesh emphasised that Nadda’s letter is replete with inaccuracies and reiterated that the people of Manipur long for normalcy, peace, and harmony.
He noted that they are posed with four critical questions: When will the Prime Minister visit the state? How much longer will the Chief Minister remain in office despite lacking majority support? When will a full-time Governor be appointed? And when will the Union Home Minister be held accountable for his failures in Manipur?
Nadda expressed astonishment at the Congress’s ongoing efforts to sensationalize the situation in Manipur, pointing out that Kharge appeared to overlook the fact that his party’s past government had legitimized the illegal migration of foreign militants to India, during which former Home Minister P Chidambaram had signed relevant treaties.
On Tuesday, Kharge had written to President Murmu regarding the worsening conditions in Manipur, requesting her immediate intervention to ensure that the citizens of the state can live peacefully and with dignity.
In his two-page letter, Kharge accused both the Union and Manipur state governments of “completely failing” to restore peace and normalcy over the past 18 months, resulting in a loss of public confidence in their leadership.
Rahul Gandhi is right, Gautam Adani should be arrested: RJD president Lalu Yadav
“Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested,” said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.
RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday spoke in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for immediate arrest of Gautam Adani, after the Industrialist was charged in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on Thursday that Gautam Adani should be arrested immediately, and his protector Madhabi Puri Buch should be investigated
The former Congress chief claimed that the recent developments vindicate his long-standing allegations against Gautam Adani. He took a sharp dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that Modi is protecting Adani, and is also involved in corruption.
Yadav, the former chief minister of Bihar, was responding to queries from journalists here about Gandhi’s statement on the previous day, in the backdrop of charges of bribery and fraud against the Adani group in the US.
“Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested,” said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.
The RJD supremo, who incidentally has been convicted in several fodder scam cases and is on bail, was also asked about prospects of the INDIA bloc, of which his party is a part, in Jharkhand, where the counting of votes for assembly polls is scheduled on Saturday.
Speaking to PTI, the ailing septuagenarian replied, “I would like to remain focused on my statement that Adani must be arrested. I am not worried much about a new government (in Jharkhand) where we are already in power.” Jharkhand witnessed a straight battle between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA, which included the JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, Prasad’s arch-rival and the current Chief Minister of Bihar.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Gandhi further said that Chief Ministers have been jailed for scams of Rs 10-15 crore, but Adani, who has committed a scam of Rs 2000 crore is walking free.
BJP leader Vinod Tawde, accused of distributing cash to influence voters, has sent a legal notice to Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Supriya Shrinate and Rahul Gandhi over the controversy. The BJP leader has demanded their apologies or face a Rs 100-crore defamation case.
Vinod Tawde’s legal notice came after regional party Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) leader Hitendra Thakur on Tuesday accused him of distributing Rs 5 crore at a hotel in Virar in Palghar district, 60 km from Mumbai, to woo voters.
In the legal notice, the BJP leader said the allegations against him were false, baseless and made with malafide intentions. He claimed that he demanded an apology from the three Congress leaders for their remarks against him in the cash-for-votes row or he would be forced to initiate criminal proceedings against them.
Just a few hours before the Assembly Elections, a video went viral on Tuesday showing BVA workers storming into the hotel in Palghar during a meeting between Vinod Tawde and Rajan Naik, the BJP candidate from the Nalasopara seat. The BVA workers alleged that Tawde was caught red-handed with Rs 5 crore cash.
In the viral video, the BVA workers were seen taking out bundles of cash from a bag, while Tawde was sitting at a distance. The BVA workers also took pictures and videos of him on their phones. Amid these allegations, BVA leaders said that Rs 5 crore cash was distributed, an election official on Tuesday said Rs 9.93 lakh cash was recovered from the hotel rooms.
However, Vinod Tawde denied the allegation, saying he was only providing guidance to party workers on poll procedures and said he was not stupid enough to distribute money at his opponent’s hotel. Speaking to the media, he said that the Vivanta Hotel is owned by the Thakurs, and he is not stupid to go to their hotel and distribute money there.
The Police registered two FIRs against Tawde, BJP candidate Naik and others in connection with the controversy. Additionally, the Election Commission filed three FIRs against Tawde.
APN News is today the most watched and the most credible and respected news channel in India. APN has been at the forefront of every single news revolution. The channel is being recognized for its in-depth, analytical reportage and hard hitting discussions on burning issues; without any bias or vested interests.