I see a fair amount of misunderstanding about the US-India BECA (and for that matter, COMCASA and LEMOA). Let me try to explain how I think of these agreements. (1/n)

First, let me stress that calling these agreements “foundational” is not canonical, rather it was a branding exercise done years ago in the bureaucracy. I think a better umbrella term would be “enabling” agreements, in that they enable certain types of cooperation. 2/n

“Enable” does not mean “obligate”. To the extent the agreements obligate both parties to do anything, it involves processes and procedures. 3/n

You might think both sides find ways to convince one another they will safeguard sensitive and secret stuff. See Article VI in the unclassified portion of the US-Norway BECA for instance. https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/143676.pdf 4/n

So will BECA give India access to the maps showing all of Pakistan, the most recent 5-cm imagery of eastern Ladakh, etc.? Anything is possible in a secret agreement, but my guess is not. 5/n

If the United States wanted to share cool maps with India without a BECA, we could. Just as a private company could share their private data with you without a non-disclosure agreement. The agreement just makes everybody feel more comfortable. 6/n

Conversely, just because I signed a non-disclosure agreement, a firm would likely not be obligated to share anything with me. 7/n

The US bureaucracy is dominated by lawyers in a way the Indian bureaucracy isn’t. Lawyers love these types of agreements. Gives them lots of productive work to do. But we shouldn’t overstate what they do. n/n