Rajnath, Jaishankar Attend India-US 2+2 Talks; Bilateral Ties, Regional Security Topped Agenda

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar attended the India-US maiden 2+2 ministerial dialogue in Washington on Monday – the first under the Joe Biden administration.

Singh, who held the dialogue with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, tweeted that the two leaders discussed the “entire gamut of bilateral defence cooperation and the regional security situation”.

A press release from the Defence Ministry later stated, “They discussed ways to deepen Major Defence Partnership (MDP) and to work together to advance quality and scope in bilateral defence cooperation. They reviewed Military-to-Military engagements, information sharing, enhanced logistics cooperation, and the ability of the Armed Forces to cooperate closely under compatible communication arrangements. In this context, closer cooperation of Special Operation Forces came up prominently.”

EAM Jaishankar, who will hold the meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, thanked the US top leaders for their guidance in the 2+2 dialogue. “Privileged to participate in the Modi-Biden Virtual Summit today. Thank the leaders for their guidance given to the 2+2 meeting,” he tweeted.

The 2+2 dialogue, held under the shadow of the Ukrainian crisis, is reflective of the significance the two governments attach to this bilateral relationship.

Hours before the dialogue, PM Narendra Modi and Joe Biden held a virtual interaction and the Ukraine crisis featured prominently in the talks, with Modi calling the situation in the strife-torn region a “matter of concern”.

Read all the Latest News India and Breaking News here