The Pakistani media is crying over the latest deals made by India and the US in the 2+2 meeting. Mike Pompeo’s and Secretary Defense Mark Esper’s visit and their clear commitment to help India via a defence pact on giving India real time satellite intelligence is indeed a big win. America’s geospatial satellites are the best in the world and give the minutest detail of what is happening on the ground. This will make defending our borders much more precise and give us real time information of what our enemies both to our West and North are up to.
Pompeo minced no words on China’s threat to the world — its hegemonic designs, The Wuhan Virus and its constant aggressiveness in the South China Sea and the on India’s northern borders. He stressed on the need for the US and India to work together to counter the threat posed by Beijing to “security and freedom.” He said in his speech in New Delhi – “Our friendship and commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific was clearly, clearly highly on display when we were in Tokyo this past week and a half for the Quad meeting that Minister Jaishankar and I had with our Australian and Japanese friends earlier this month.”
Pompeo reiterated that the US will stand with India as it confronts threats to its sovereignty and liberty.
Interestingly, he also talked about how India belonged in the UN Security Council and the US will support India’s bid to be in it.
As in the dialogue last year, the joint statement denounced the terror proxies of Pakistan and strongly condemned cross border terrorism including naming Al Qaeda, ISIS, LeT, Jem and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.
Weirdly, The Global Times, a Chinese Communist mouthpiece reported that Chinese experts had said that since most of India’s weapons are from Russia, the US services offered to India may be incompatible. Wishful thinking China.
How can an Eye in the Sky be incompatible? So much for Chinese scientists and their bogus claims.
According to Dawn newspaper which reported on Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) statement, the establishment is clearly worried. It reported- ‘The agreement called Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) was signed at the third edition of India-US 2+2 talks held in Delhi. The accord will enable India to access precision topographical, nautical and aeronautical data and topographical images from US military satellites on a real time basis. The data could be used for missiles and armed drones.
It is the eighth agreement signed by the United States and India since they embarked on a strategic partnership in 2005. Pakistani strategists believe that the agreement would increase Pakistan’s strategic dilemma, even though it is being presented as part of efforts to contain China.’
The Foreign Office is seems is very alarmed — “Pakistan has taken note of the signing of the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement. Pakistan has been consistently highlighting the threats posed to strategic stability in South Asia as a result of provision of advanced military hardware, technologies and knowledge to India.”
At least Pakistan had the sense not to suggest that US geospatial intelligence was incompatible with India’s defense requirements!
The fact that Secretary Pompeo is proceeding to Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia after India is significant as the US is clearly working to get allies on board against the Chinese Dragon, especially the countries that have been singed by its fiery breath.
