The defense cooperation between India and the United States has thrived during President Donald Trump's tenure. In the words of Ashley J. Tellis, Trump's "administration gave India pride of place in U.S. national security thinking, offered it previously unavailable advanced military equipment, and supported it comprehensively in its crises with Pakistan and China.” On October 27, 2020, after meeting with the Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, the U.S. Secretary of State Mr. Pompeo reiterated: "The U.S. will stand with India in its efforts to defend its sovereignty and its liberty. Our nations are committed to working together into expanding our partnerships across many fronts." Despite President Trump's defeat in the 2020 Presidential elections, the U.S.-India partnership will expand under the new administration because of strategic convergence due to China’s rise and the President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ links to India. During the previous Democratic administration, when Biden was Vice-President in the Obama administration, Washington and New Delhi amalgamated their strategic vision for the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean.
The American rebalancing to Asia, an economic, diplomatic, and military effort known colloquially as the 'pivot', has heightened India's strategic relevance in the U.S. strategic calculations. In 2016, the Obama administration designated India as a ‘Major Defense Partner’ — a status akin to that of a major non-NATO ally — to check China's steady rise in global politics. Trump administration’s National Security Strategy 2017, the other defense-policy documents such as the 2018 National Defense Strategy, 2018 Nuclear Posture Review released in February 2018, Indo-Pacific Strategy declassified in July 2019, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2020-Annual Report to Congress, clearly documented China as a threat and underscored cementing a strategic partnership with India. New Delhi and Washington signed various economic and defense-related agreements, which have increased technology transfer opportunities, collaboration, co-production, research and development, and expanded cooperation relating to missile defense. Consequently, the India-U.S. defense trade had grown from almost zero in 2008 to $15 billion in 2018.  
India and the U.S. elevated their strategic consultations by inaugurating the 2+2 ministerial dialogue in September 2018, improving the synergy in their diplomatic and military ties. The 2+2 process operationalized India's Major Defense Partner, a status granted in 2016 to ease and enhance military cooperation. The U.S. Department of Commerce gave Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) status to India on July 30, 2018. The then U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross stated: “India’s status as a Major Defense Partner led to its becoming an STA-1 country, comparable to our NATO allies, under the Department of Commerce’s Export Administration Regulations.” Both the STA-1 and the 2+2 process have strengthened Indo-U.S. strategic partnership, significantly furthering the military linkages between New Delhi and Washington. 
During the third 2+2 dialogue in Delhi, both sides inked the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA). The conclusion of BECA finalized the key defense agreements between India and the United States. Under American law, the signing of these agreements is mandatory for the U.S. military-industrial complex to export sensitive military hardware to India. Pravin Sawhney opined, "Working in tandem with the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) signed in 2018, BECA too is much more than just "developing inter-operability" – i.e., the ability to fight together against a common enemy – as background briefings and media reports based on those briefings are fond of saying." Admittedly, the common enemy for both the states is China, but the modernization of Indian armed forces undermines Pakistan’s national security.  
The Indo-U.S. multilayered defense cooperation is destabilizing South Asia and making the entire Asia-Pacific region volatile and dangerous. The following discussion briefly explains the major defense agreements between New Delhi and Washington and also contemplates the military ramifications of the recently inked BECA on Pakistan.
Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) 
India and U.S. signed a landmark “foundational” defense agreement, Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) – an India-specific variant of the Logistics Support Agreement (LSA) — on August 29, 2016. It allows each side to assist the other's military with spare parts, services, and other supplies from one another's bases and facilities. It also allows both countries to use each other’s military bases for refueling and additional logistical support. The critics, including the Indian Congress Party and Communist Parties, concluded that India lost its “strategic autonomy” by signing LEMOA.
Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA)
The 10-year ‘Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed between India and the United States on September 6, 2018, during the first 2+2 ministerial meeting between India and the U.S. Notably, India and the U.S. had signed a rudimentary variant of COMCASA, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) in 2002. However, it did not cover many sensitive technologies that the COMCASA paved the way for. The Americans sign this kind of agreement only with allies and close partners to facilitate interoperability between militaries and the sale of high-end technology. 
The COMCASA allows the Indian military to purchase advanced American weaponry such as high-tech communications platforms, specialized equipment for encrypted communications, military platforms like the C-17, C-130, P-8Is, etc. Besides boosting military trade between the Pentagon and the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization, the COMCASA also secures military communication. They communicate with each other through secure and encrypted communication during joint exercises, increasing the interoperability between the two forces. Pravin Sawhney concluded, "The huge volume of US datasets from diverse sensors would come to Indian command centers through the special COMCASA equipment. Since good quality, real-time datasets are the new ammunition of digitized warfare; this can be platformed quickly (perhaps using US-assisted Artificial Intelligence) to both the armed drones being procured from the US as well as other weapon platforms with the three services for precise stand-off firepower."
Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA)
For a decade, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense and India’s Ministry of Defense has negotiated an agreement for geospatial cooperation. On October 27, 2020, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) was signed during the 2 + 2 India-U.S. ministerial dialogue. The agreement aimed at the sharing of geospatial intelligence for military purposes. Hence, the Americans will share with the Indians classified advanced satellite and topographic data, i.e., maps, nautical and aeronautical charts, commercial and other unclassified imagery, geophysical, geomagnetic, and gravity data.
Presently, India possesses rudimentary Geographical Information System (GIS) and Management Information System (MIS) capability. The BECA will give a quantum jump to Indian GIS and MIS capability. The induction of these technologies in the Indian military systems boosts its military’s accuracy of automated hardware systems and weapons such as cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and armed drones, which India is looking forward to purchasing from the United States. Thus, the BECA will have the following advantages for the Indian armed forces:
▪ It will give India’s armed forces access to classified geospatial data and critical information having significant military applications.
▪ It will help Indian offensive forces in selecting and striking military targets with pinpoint accuracy. 
▪ It will make available precise target information and location of the adversary’s military deployments, enhancing Indian ballistic and cruise missiles counterforce strikes. 
▪ It will also enhance the efficiency of the Indian armed unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs) and armed drones. 
▪ It will enable the Indian Navy to keep a close watch on Chinese warships' movement in the Indian Ocean. 
▪ It will augment India's capability to conduct a surgical strike against Pakistan with accuracy and enable it to verify its strike's success.
The preceding discussion proves that BECA will immensely improve the Indian armed forces' offensive ability and capability. Hence, it will negatively influence South Asian strategic stability in general and Pakistan’s defensive fence in particular. It would enhance India's situational awareness, which could encourage Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his radicalized cohorts to conduct preemptive counterforce strikes and aerial surgical strikes against Pakistan to sustain their domestic popularity and win the forthcoming state elections. Conversely, Pakistan has been monitoring the situation vigilantly and alarming the international community about the Indian ruling elites' militaristic designs and the repercussions of the rampant transfer of sophisticated military technologies and advanced military hardware to Indian armed forces by the United States. On October 28, Pakistan’s Foreign Office expressed its concern on the BECA. It stated, "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 due to India." It added, “India’s massive acquisition of armaments and expansion of its nuclear forces, including introduction of new destabilizing weapon systems, are developments with serious repercussions for peace and stability in South Asia.”
Conclusion
The increasing defense cooperation between India and the United States is strengthening Indian military muscle and profiting the American military-industrial complex. The aforementioned defense agreements contribute constructively to the Indian armed forces' modernization processes. The reformation of ham-fisted Indian armed forces into modernized military power increases India's offensive capabilities and heightens its neighbors' insecurity, including Pakistan. Indeed, these developments compel Pakistan to solidify its defensive fence. Thus, the Indo-U.S. multilayered defense cooperation intensifies the arms race between the neighbors entailing strategic instability in South Asia.

The writer is Professor at School of Politics and International Relations, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. He is also the author of India’s Surgical Strike Stratagem: Brinksmanship and Response.
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