Mike Pompeo has already arrived in New Delhi and he was accompanied by his wife Susan.

The visiting dignitaries will be hosted by Rajnath Singh and Jaishankar for dinner. It is expected that the two sides may finalise the long-pending Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties. They will also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the stay in the national capital.

The signing of the agreement would allow the United States to share precision satellite and topographical data from its constellation of military satellites on a real-time basis.

China defense cooperation, foundational agreements and other regional issues will be the prime focus of the meeting.

“We have made significant progress towards concluding the last foundational defence enabling agreement – the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement or BECA,” senior officials of the Trump administration said last week in an online news briefing.

“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 added.

Pompeo will also travel to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. These countries were struggling with a mountain of Chinese debt incurred to finance big infrastructure projects. The visit also assumes importance on the backdrop of China’s expansionist designs in the region.

Pompeo will conclude his trip in Indonesia, a week before the US presidential election, which is also locked in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.

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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar urged full support of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) in reforming the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to reflect contemporary global realities and the feelings of millions of people in the world.

Thank FM Sergey Lavrov for convening the #BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today.

Positively assessed the progress made during the Russian Chair, especially in counter-terrorism, economic cooperation, ICTs and people-to-people contacts. pic.twitter.com/QOZMliC9tW

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) September 4, 2020

Mr Jaishankar made the comments during a virtual meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers convened by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on September 4.

India, Japan, Germany and Brazil (G4) are eyeing a permanent seat at the UNSC, which currently has only five veto-wielding powers- United States, Russia, Britain, France and China.

Jaishankar also called for reformed multilateralism including the restructuring of international bodies like the World Trade Organisation, International Monetary Fund, World Health Organisation.

The EAM thanked his Russian counterpart for convening the meeting and highlighted that in the wake of several challenges in economic, political and social/ health fields, BRICS has an important to play.

He also raised the issue of terrorism, in situation in Afganistan and West Asia, and called for enhanced BRICS operation in countering terror.

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