India-US ink six agreements

India and the United States (US) have signed six agreements to enhance bilateral cooperation in various fields.
These agreements were signed after wide range of bilateral talks between Prime Minster Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama in Washington.
The agreements were signed in Terrorist Screening InformationClean Energy and Climate Change, cooperation on Energy Security among others.
Singed Agreements are

• Arrangement for the exchange of Terrorist Screening Information: Under it both countries will provide each other access to terrorism screening information.
• MoU on Energy Security, Clean Energy and Climate Change: It seeks to enhance cooperation between both countries on energy security, climate change and clean energy by increasing bilateral engagement. It further seeks to enhance joint initiatives for promoting sustainable growth.
• MoU on Wildlife Conservation and Combating Wildlife Trafficking: It seeks to enhance cooperation in areas such as Wildlife Forensics and Conservation Genetics, Conservation Awareness, Natural World Heritage Conservation and Nature Interpretation for combating wildlife trafficking, wildlife conservation and management.
• MoU for the Global Entry Programme: It seeks to grant expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk Indian travelers upon arrival in the United States.
• Technical Arrangement concerning Unclassified Maritime Information Sharing: It seeks to allow sharing of unclassified information on White Shipping between both countries.
• MoU for Cooperation in Gas Hydrates: It aims to increase the understanding of the geologic distribution, occurrence and production of natural gas hydrates along the continental margin of US and India.

Besides singing these six agreements both countries also finalized two documents. They are

• Information Exchange Annex (IEA) concerning Aircraft Carrier Technologies: It aims to enhance information and data sharing specific to aircraft carriers technology.
• Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement: It aims at facilitating mutual logistic support for authorized joint exercises, joint training, port visits and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HA-DR).

Month: Current Affairs - June, 2016