US State Department Says US-India 2+2 Meeting Will Focus On Strengthening Security Cooperation

In preparation for their November 10 meeting with their American counterparts, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar announced on Thursday that the agenda would include a number of topics, including strengthening the security cooperation and partnership between the US and India.

What was said by the State Department?
“Our relationship with India is one of close collaboration. Deepening the security cooperation and partnership will undoubtedly be one of the many topics that are discussed during the 2+2 security dialogue that Blinken (the State Department deputy spokesperson) will be attending with Secretary of Defense Austin, Vedant Patel told reporters during his daily news conference on Wednesday.

“It was something that was obviously raised during Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s state visit earlier this year, and I know the Secretary looks forward to being there and engaging directly with his counterparts on this,” Patel said to a query.

The US and India share the objective of stopping the present Middle East crisis from spreading, according to a senior State Department source, who also highlighted that this will be a major subject of discussion at the 2+2 ministerial meeting in New Delhi.

Along with the bilateral concerns, the two sides would also talk about Russia, Ukraine, and the Indo-Pacific region.

“They are going to India for the yearly 2+2 Dialogue, where they are going to have in-depth talks with their counterparts in ministry.” Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told reporters on November 1 that the 2+2 Dialogue was established in 2018.

“Our two nations can conduct high-level conversations concerning defense and strategic matters thanks to the 2+2 dialogue. The Secretary will also meet with key Indian officials, including External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, according to Lu.

Lu said that one of the subjects of conversation would be China in response to a query.

In order to promote a free, open, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, cooperation in that region is very much officially on the agenda. He stated, “I believe we will be interested in learning how India’s border talks with China are going. Additionally, I’m sure our Indian counterparts will be eager to learn about Wang Yi’s visit to the US and the scheduled meeting between Presidents Xi (Jinping) and Biden at the APEC Summit.