India-U.S. Defence cooperation.

Key Facts

• The India-U.S. Military Cooperation Group (MCG) dialogue is a forum to review the progress of defense cooperation between India’s Integrated Defence Staff and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) at the strategic and operational levels.
• The Integrated Defence Staff was responsible for coordination among the armed forces before the appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff.
• As part of the agreement reached at the 2+2 Dialogue of December 2019, with the intent to further military liaison relationships, India has already posted a liaison officer at the U.S. Navy Central Command in Bahrain and a U.S. liaison officer has joined the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region at Gurugram.

Details:

• The India-U.S. Military Cooperation Group (MCG) dialogue scheduled to be held in the U.S., has been canceled given the COVID-19 outbreak.
• As part of improving defense cooperation and interoperability between India and the U.S., India is considering a U.S. request for posting liaison officers at the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) and the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). This was to be discussed at the dialogue.
• The MCG dialogue was to follow up on the U.S. President’s India visit and fast-track the decisions, including that on 24 MH-60R multi-role helicopters.

Source: The Hindu