External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held “warm and productive” meeting with the US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on key bilateral, regional and global issues and said the bilateral ties have grown substantially in every domain.
He said the two countries were working closely in plurilateral and multilateral formats and he was looking forward to 2+2 dialogue between the two countries on Tuesday. “Warm and productive meeting with @SecPompeo. Discussed key bilateral, regional and global issues. Reviewed progress in ties: grown substantially in every domain. Our foreign policy consultations and cooperation have expanded,” Jaishankar said.
India is delighted to host US Secy of Defence, Dr Mark Esper. Our talks today were fruitful, aimed at further deepening defence cooperation in a wide range of areas.
Today’s discussions will add new vigour to our defence relations & mutual cooperation: Defence Min Rajnath Singh pic.twitter.com/ewkUZSuD3H— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2020
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and his wife, Susan Pompeo, arrive in Delhi.
US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo is in India today to participate in the third India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Fxzzr6TvXh
— ANI (@ANI) October 26, 2020
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The meeting between the two leaders came after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held talks with US Defence Secretary Mark Esper. Both Pompeo and Esper arrived here on Monday to take part in the third 2+2 dialogue between the two countries. Pompeo said he was pleased to be back in New Delhi for constructive meetings including the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
Pompeo and Jaishankar discussed a wide range of issues during the meeting ranging from addressing the shared challenges of COVID-19 and responding to regional security issues, to collaborating on vaccine development and economic prosperity, according to the US State Department.
The two sides had agreed during Modi’s visit to Washington DC in June 2017 to hold discussions in this new format. The first two 2+2 talks were held in New Delhi in September 2018 and Washington DC in 2019.
It said India-US 2+2 talks will focus on four themes — regional security cooperation, defence information sharing, military-to-military interactions and defence trade. The first 2+2 ministerial dialogue was held in New Delhi in September 2018 and the second in Washington DC in 2019.
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