US to hold intersessional meeting of 2+2 Dialogue with India

PTI, Aug 22, 2019, 10:51 AM IST

Washington: The US and India will hold two key meetings this week, including an intersessional of the 2+2 Dialogue, to discuss ways to advance cooperation on critical diplomatic and security priorities and building on the shared vision for the Indo-Pacific region.

The US will host the intersessional meeting of the US-India 2+2 Dialogue in California on Thursday. The meeting is aimed at strengthening the strategic partnership, the State Department said Wednesday.

The American delegation will be led jointly by the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs Randall Schriver. There was no information on who will lead the Indian delegation.

Meanwhile, on Friday, during the fourth US-India Maritime Security Dialogue, the two sides will exchange views on maritime developments in the Indo-Pacific region and consider steps to further strengthen bilateral maritime security cooperation, the official US statement said.

The US has been pushing for a broader role by India in the strategically important Indo-Pacific region.

India, the US and several other world powers have been talking about the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military maneuvering in the region.

Both the 2+2 intersessional meeting and Maritime Security Dialogue will be held at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey in California, it said.

The interactions will lay the ground work for the visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh to the US later this fall.