Washington, United States: US State Secretary Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will be visiting India to attend the India-US 2+2 dialogue. During the visit, it is anticipated that both top diplomats of the United States will meet their Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
The official tour is scheduled to commence from November 10. The authorities of both countries have been looking forward to the meeting as it will provide a platform “to take the futuristic roadmap for the bilateral partnership,” according to the External Affairs Ministry.
On Wednesday, the External Affairs Ministry of India shared a statement elaborating on the official tour of Blinken and Austin to New Delhi on Friday.
Variety of issues to be discussed during meetings
According to the official sources, this meeting will see discussions on a range of global issues, including the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Gaza conflict. Expectedly, the officials of both countries will also discuss the new areas which will assist in boosting the US-India defense and security cooperation.
It is to be noted that another important issue, which will be discussed during the meetings, will be the agreement between General Electrics and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. As per the agreement, the engines for GE-414 will be manufactured in India.
To boost its Defense Forces, the Indian authorities are also planning to acquire 31 MQ-9B Reaper drones from the United States.
Statement by the External Affairs Ministry
The External Affairs Ministry of India, through the statement, outlined that this recent meeting will provide a boost to the vision of US President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“The ministers will take the opportunity to progress the futuristic roadmap for the India-US partnership as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and President Joseph Biden in their discussions in June and September this year,” the statement read.
A high-level review of progress in “cross-cutting aspects of defense and security cooperation, technology value chain collaborations and people-to-people ties” will be another important topic of discussion in the 2+2 meeting.
Contemporary regional issues will also be discussed between the leaders. According to the statement by the External Affairs Ministry, the ministers will also exchange their views about “shared priorities for augmenting cooperation in multilateral platforms, and through frameworks such as Quad.”
Meetings between US and Indian counterparts
The official statement has also underscored that Austin and Blinken will be attending separate bilateral meetings with their Indian counterparts. This meeting will mark the “continuity of ministerial dialogue,” reaffirming the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership.