US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will visit India on November 10 to participate in the 5th India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar are also scheduled to have bilateral meetings with their respective US counterparts.
India and the US will take stock of contemporary regional issues and exchange views about shared priorities for augmenting cooperation in multilateral platforms, and through frameworks such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue.
Earlier, the US Department of State said that Blinken will embark on the visit of five nations, including India in the month of November. He will be visiting Israel, Jordan, Japan, South Korea and lastly India, the statement added.
Blinken has a tight schedule after a gruelling visit to Middle Eastern countries, where he is making diplomatic efforts regarding the Israel-Hamas war. The top US diplomat is expected to reiterate American support for Israel while pushing for protection and humanitarian aid for civilians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Blinken is currently participating in the second G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting of 2023 in Japan, where G7 foreign ministers will build on the commitments made by leaders at the G7 Hiroshima Summit. He also met Japanese PM Kishida Fumio and Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko to discuss bilateral priorities.
The India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue will enable high-level review of progress being made in cross-cutting aspects of defence and security cooperation, technology value chain collaborations and people-to-people ties.
The Indian and US representatives will discuss opportunities to progress the futuristic roadmap for the India-US partnership as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, in their discussions in June and September this year.
The first India-US 2+2 dialogue was held in 2018 under the administration of former US President Donald Trump. This year, the US side is also expected to push for military hardware cooperation while India is likely to ask for the sharing of high-end technology for developing indigenous weapon systems during the ministerial, sources told news agency ANI.
US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu will accompany Blinken and Austin to discuss strategic coordination on multiple issues. Following the dialogue, Blinken and Austin will also call on PM Modi.
This dialogue also comes as the US looks to keep the momentum towards a shared regional vision of peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
(with inputs from agencies)
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