India and the United States have signed a defence pact giving the South Asian country access to real-time data and topographical images from US military satellites.

The new pact reflects the growing convergence of interests between New Delhi and Washington, particularly as both show growing concern over China, which is currently embroiled in a border row with India.

The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (Beca) was signed during the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper, who are in India for a high-level security dialogue. The two US officials held talks yesterday with their Indian counterparts, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on greater military cooperation, the security situation in the Indo-Pacific, the pandemic and greater defence cooperation.

While Indian leaders did not directly mention China, Mr Pompeo pledged support for New Delhi in the border stand-off, which followed a violent clash in the Galwan Valley in Ladakh that left 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops dead. It was the worst such incident involving troops from the two sides in over four decades. India and China are currently holding military and diplomatic talks to resolve the problem.

Mr Pompeo said the two sides had talks on the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to "robust discussions" on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He said: "The US will stand with the people of India as they confront threats to their sovereignty and to their liberties... Our leaders and our citizens see with increasing clarity that the CCP is no friend to democracy, the rule of law, transparency, the freedom of navigation... the foundation of a free and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

"The US and India are taking steps to strengthen our cooperation against all manners of threat and not just those posed by the Chinese Communist Party," the US Secretary of State added at a press conference after the talks.

Mr Esper echoed the sentiment, describing ties with India as "resilient and growing".

"As the world confronts a global pandemic and growing security challenges, the US-India partnership is more important than ever to ensure security, stability and prosperity of the region and the world.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific for all, particularly in light of increasing aggression and destabilising activities by China," he said.

The US Defence Secretary also noted that India's recent decision to include Australia in the Malabar naval exercises, involving India, Japan and the US, "reflects an acknowledgement of the importance of working multilaterally to address global challenges".

All four countries belong to the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, which is also known as the Quad, an informal security forum seen by China as a way to contain its growth.

Defence cooperation between India and the US has deepened in recent years as Washington sharpened its focus on the Indo-Pacific region, on the back of concerns about Chinese moves in the region.

India's leaders, while not referring directly to China, have pushed for a multipolar Asia and greater cooperation with the US.

"Our national security convergences have obviously grown in a more multipolar world... A multi-polar world must have a multipolar Asia as its basis," said Mr Jaishankar.

"We are also committed to creating more trusted and resilient global supply chains. An India that is now focused on recovery, resilience and reform welcomes an expanded partnership with the United States," he added.

Defence Minister Singh noted that "upholding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of all states (is) essential".

Experts say Beca will help India improve its defence preparedness and shows that the China factor remains a key driving force in expanding ties between the US and India.

"India (through the dialogue amid the pandemic) wants to send messaging to partners and adversaries on where we place the US in the scheme of things. We are converging on Covid and China, which is cementing ties between the two countries," said Dr Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, a distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.