India, US to hold first ‘2+2 dialogue’ on September 6: US State Department

The first ‘2+2 dialogue’ between India and the US will be held on September 6 in New Delhi, the US State Department announced on Friday.

Last month, the US had postponed the ‘2+2 dialogue’ with India, which was scheduled to be held on July 6 in Washington, citing “unavoidable reasons”.

“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,” State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis would travel to India for the dialogue.

“Pompeo and Mattis look forward to meeting with their Indian counterparts, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and Minister of Defence Nirmala Sitharaman, “to discuss strengthening strategic, security and defence cooperation” as the US and India jointly address challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond,” Nauert said.

The External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj along with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, was scheduled to visit the US for high-level dialogue with their American counterparts - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

This dialogue which will be the first simultaneous meeting of defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman and external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj with their US counterparts James Mattis and Mike Pompeo was announced in 2017 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House.

(With inputs from agencies)