"BECA will enable U.S. forces to provide advanced navigational aids and avionics and share geographic data for India that will help increase the accuracy of the Indian army`s automated hardware systems and weapons such as drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles," the official said. "... I am pleased to say that the United States and India are taking steps to strengthen cooperation against all possible threats, not just those of the Chinese Communist Party," Pompeo said. "We went to the monument to the warriors of New Delhi...... Honour the brave men and women of the Indian armed forces who sacrificed for the world`s greatest democracy, including 20 killed by plas forces in the Galwan Valley in June. Amid the continuing stalemate over the Line of Real Control (LAC) in Ladakh - the longest and heaviest in 30 years - India and the United States have stepped up intelligence and military cooperation under the radar to unprecedented levels, especially since June. Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar, who were present with Pompeo and Esper, did not mention China, but spoke of "respect" and "maintenance" of the "territorial integrity and sovereignty" of all states - an obvious reference to Beijing`s warritude along the LAC. "These include the positioning of a USN LO on IFC-IOR and the Indian LO at NAVCENT, Bahrain; Improved interaction and coordination with CENTCOM and AFRICOM; Create the COMSEC account and increase the scope and complexity of our exercises. In a joint statement, the ministers - Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, Secretary of State Subramanyam Jaishankar, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark Esper - said the pact was an important step in bilateral relations.

The Defence Technology and Trade Initiative, which aims to strengthen joint production of weapons systems, was also discussed and a bilateral summit on strengthening defence industrial cooperation is planned this year, the joint statement said. Currently, the United States uses NAD 83 (north American Date 1983) and NAVD 88 (North American Vertical Date). However, for better data accuracy, U.S. surveys are carried out on an ongoing basis. The United States plans to set a new date by 2022 to improve alignment with frames of reference and improve the accuracy of GPS-derived heights. The NAVD 88 will also be replaced and air gravity data collection to improve future geoid models is underway. "Now, OL could be used in each other`s businesses to improve our information exchange architecture. In short, our military cooperation is progressing well.

Under BECA, the United States exchanges technical and procedural information on standardizing methods, specifications and formats for collecting, processing and producing GEOINT information with India. These include tools and models for processing GPS data and transforming width, length and altitude coordinates across different frames of reference. With GPS-derived heights, an accurate geoid model will help determine the direction of water flows. The GNSS antenna calibration for the antenna reference point (ARP) and the northern reference point (PNR) must be part of the GEOINT to improve the baseline data. The third round of the bilateral meeting was held on 27 October in India, against a backdrop of border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh. For its part, India is cautious with Pakistan`s deep-rooted relations with the Pentagon and Washington`s dependence on Rawalpindi for access to Afghanistan and its exit strategy. Most of the information disclosed is not classified. However, the pact contains a provision for the exchange of classified information and security measures to prevent it from being disclosed to third parties.