US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper reached New Delhi on Monday afternoon for the 2+2 dialogue which is scheduled for Tuesday.
US State Department said on Sunday the third US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue meeting depicts the complete high-level commitment on both sides for shared diplomatic and security objectives.
Just prior to his scheduled flight for India, Pompeo took to Twitter to write about how grateful he was for the chance to connect with the partners. He tweeted, “Wheels up for my trip to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia. Grateful for the opportunity to connect with our partners to promote a shared vision for a free and open #IndoPacific composed of independent, strong, and prosperous nations.”
India and US are likely to review the strategic and security ties and consider different ways to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific amid the third meeting of 2+2 dialogue. Their discussion will be based on four elements – regional security cooperation, defence information, sharing, military to military interactions and defence trade, as per a US State Department’s official statement released last week.
In their two-day visit to India, Pompeo and Esper will be having the meeting with Indian counterparts Rajnath Singh and S Jaishshankar and have also planned to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
Both Indian and US officials have attributed to the significance of the physical presence of Pompeo and Esper for the meeting and most of the world holds to virtual meeting, iterating on the important relationship with India.
The US State Department revealed that it welcomes India’s emergence as a leading regional and global power and that US is look forward to work with India for the UNSC term, beginning January 1, 2021.
