India-US first 2+2 dialogue is scheduled to take place in New Delhi on September 6, US State Department announced on July 20. Last month, the US had postponed the much-awaited dialogue due to “unavoidable reasons”.
The US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement, “The United States is pleased to announce that the inaugural US-India 2+2 Dialogue will be held in New Delhi, India, on September 6.”
The dialogue is seen as a track to boost the strategic ties between the two nations.
The high-level meeting which will take place between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with their American counterparts US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis will be their first simultaneous meeting.
Both the country’s will “discuss strengthening strategic, security, and defence cooperation as the United States and India jointly address challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” US State Department said.
Both the sides are also expected to discuss a whole range of issues such as defence purchases — India is keen to buy, for instance, armed Guardian drones — coproduction and co-development, cooperation on counter-terrorism, which is always accorded high priority by the two nations.
The new dialogue was announced between India and the US during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to US on June 2017.
