NEW DELHI (TIP): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks on November 10 morning ahead of the high profile ‘2+2’ ministerial dialogue.

Mr. Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin are in Delhi for the fifth edition of the ‘2+2’ foreign and defense ministerial dialogue which is aimed at taking forward India-U.S. futuristic roadmap for deeper strategic cooperation. The Indian delegation at the talks will be led by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and Mr. Jaishankar.

The Defense Ministry said a number of strategic, defense and technology issues are expected to be discussed at the ‘2+2’ dialogue and the bilateral meeting between Mr. Singh and Mr. Austin.

On November 9, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the ‘2+2’ dialogue will enable a high-level review of progress being made in cross-cutting aspects of defense and security cooperation, technology value chain collaborations and people-to-people ties.

“The Ministers will take the opportunity to progress the futuristic roadmap for the India-U.S. partnership as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joseph Biden, in their discussions in June and September this year,” the MEA said in a statement. It said both sides will also take stock of contemporary regional issues and exchange views about shared priorities for augmenting cooperation in multilateral platforms, and through frameworks such as Quad.
(Source: PTI)