New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: A key defence agreement between the US and India is likely to be signed during the third edition of '2+2' talks between United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark T Esper and their Indian counterparts Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Before boarding the plane for Delhi, Pompeo, who will also visit Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia, said that the United States was grateful for the opportunity to connect with its "partners".
"Wheels up for my trip to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia. Grateful for the opportunity to connect with our partners to promote a shared vision for a free and open Indo Pacific composed of independent, strong, and prosperous nations," he wrote.
Ahead of the '2+2' talks, the US State Department said the United States will collaborating closely with India during the upcoming UN Security Council term and welcomed New Delhi's emergence as a leading regional and global power.
"As outlined in our National Security Strategy, the United States welcomes India's emergence as a leading regional and global power. The United States looks forward to collaborating closely with India during its upcoming term on the UN Security Council," the US State Department said.
During the meeting, which comes just nine days ahead of the Presidential elections in the United States, the leaders will discuss New Delhi and Washington defence information sharing, regional security cooperation and defence trade among other issues.
"We have made significant progress towards concluding the last foundational defence enabling agreement - the Exchange and Cooperation Agreement or BECA," US government officials had said last week.
"This agreement will allow for expanded geospatial information sharing between our armed forces. We are also seeking to expand secure communication capabilities between our respective militaries as well as between our foreign defence ministries and that figures prominently in what we are trying to accomplish in the information-sharing space," they said.
Once the BECA agreement is signed, US will start sharing precision satellite and topographical data from its military satellites on a real time basis. After the 2+2 meeting, Pompeo and Esper will also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.