NEW DELHI – India and the United States (US) sign an unprecedentedintelligence cooperation pact between both countries.
The 10-year Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement (Comcasa)will allow New Delhi to “buy advanced American weaponry and to sharesensitive military technology”.
Under the agreement, the US will also “transfer high-tech communicationsplatforms to India”.
The agreement will allow sharing of “encrypted military intelligence”, andis a prerequisite if India wishes to buy advanced US military equipment.
Officials have previously said that the pact would also allow the transferof equipment such as armed surveillance drones to India from the US.
Comcasa would allow India to procure “specialised equipment for encryptedcommunications for US origin military platforms like the C-17, C-130 andP-8Is”, and “enable greater communications interoperability between themilitaries of India and the US”.
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The Comcasa, which was signed during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo andDefence Secretary James Mattis’ visit to Delhi, had been stalled for yearsdue to India’s concerns that it would “open up its communications networkto the US military”. However, there are provisions within the agreement tosafeguard Indian’s security and national interests, and prevent thedisclosure of data acquired through these systems to a third party withoutIndia’s consent.
Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during a press conference onThursday with Mattis and Pompeo, had hailed the defence cooperation as “themost significant dimension of our strategic partnership and as a key driverof our overall bilateral relationship”
Both countries also agreed to open up a hotline between their foreignministers.
The US has signed similar pacts with less than 30 other countries, thereport added, citing a senior US defence official.
