Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks on the sideline of the high profile ‘2+2’ US-India ministerial dialogue on Friday morning. Antony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin are in Delhi for the fifth edition of such as high-profile dialogue. The dialogue aimed at strengthening India-US existing bilateral ties and scope for making the future roadmap for this flourishing relationship.
The Indian delegation at the talks will be led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and EAM S. Jaishankar. The official sources confirmed that there are several strategic, defence and technological issues expected to be discussed at the 2+2 dialogue. There would be a bilateral meeting between Singh and Austin as well.
Expected outcomes from the dialogue
The MEA officials said the ‘2+2’ dialogue will ensure a high level of progress being made in cross-cutting aspects of defence and security cooperation. Along with the strategic cooperation, the discussions about collaborations for an enhanced and eased value chain will also be the expected outcome of the high-level bilateral talks.
Source: BNN network
The US and India have very strong people-to-people ties and in the US, there are huge numbers of Indian diaspora. Thus, the dialogue is also expected to discuss the people exchanges, which, in turn, strengthened the existing regulations for the people-to-people ties.
There would be discussions about contemporary regional issues and will exchange views about shared priorities for articulating the corporations and exploring more aspects to collaborate between the oldest democracy and the largest democracy in the world. The talk can deepen the cooperation between India and the US and can prepare a future pathway to strengthen the area of convergence.
The vision of the India-US partnership
The ministers of the Indian delegation will take the opportunity to convince their US counterparts about the future vision of the India-US partnership, which was envisioned by PM Narendra Modi and President Joseph Biden in their discussions in June and September this year- the MEA confirmed. India’s relations are not a very old one, but it is flourishing so quickly.
Source: The Dhronas
In 2005, the US and India for the first time signed the New Framework for the US-India Defense Relationship. Following it, in 2010, India and the US had their first US-India strategic Dialogue. The aspects of cooperation under the renewed partnership have been increased by the efforts of both countries. Finally, in 2016, India has been elevated as a major defence partner. No other country holds this status.
This is the fifth row that US-India 2+2 dialogue has been held. Since 2018, the high-level talks have come up with many positive outcomes. Even, the COMCASA also signed during the previous 2+2 dialogue. India and the US have also signed the last of four foundational military agreements, BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement).
The India-US partnership is broad-based and multi-sectoral, ranging from trade and investment, defence and security, education, science-technology, cyber security, civil nuclear technology, space technology, clean energy, agriculture, health and so on.
The vibrant and regular people-to-people exchanges and support across the political spectrum in both countries nurture the bilateral partnership effectively. Starting from the leadership level, the huge diaspora in both countries has facilitated the shared vision of the India-US partnership.
The current dialogue in the era of the changing geopolitical landscape can bring new hope to the world. In times of geopolitical conflicts such as Israel-Hamas, or Russia-Ukraine conflicts, it seems that the world has eyes on the 2+2 dialogue on deepening the ties between the two like-minded countries, which also can collectively be a potential mediating factor for the conflict regions.
