Ahead of US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin’s arrival to the national capital for the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue on November 9 and 10, the White House referred to India as its “key strategic partner”. Secretary of State Tony Blinken too will attend the dialogue.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host their United States counterparts Austin and Blinken, which will “mark a continuity of Ministerial Dialogue and reaffirm the India-U.S. Comprehensive Global Strategic partnership”, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
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Both the countries are expected to carry out a comprehensive review of their fast-expanding strategic ties. They are also likely to exchange views on the conflict in West Asia. According to reports, both sides are also likely to discuss Ottawa's allegations regarding India's involvement in the killing of a Khalistani separatist in a gurdwara located in Canada's British Columbia province.
In a statement, the MEA said the dialogue will facilitate a high-level review of progress across various facets of defence and security collaboration, technology value chain partnerships, and people-to-people connections. “The Ministers will take the opportunity to progress the futuristic roadmap for the India-US partnership as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden, in their discussions in June and September this year,” it said.
The agenda may also include discussions on contemporary regional issues and shared priorities for enhancing cooperation within multilateral frameworks such as the Quad.
According to a report by The Hindu Businessline, the dialogue may also discuss the delay in delivery of General Electric (GE) Aerospace manufactured F404 engines that are powering Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas-Mk IAs fighter jets.
“The GE has already handed over 75 such engines to the manufacturer of the Tejas, state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), post 1986 and an additional 99 F404-GE-IN20 engines, having better thrust, are on order for which the delivery was to commence from August, this year, but has not happened so far,” Defence Ministry insiders told the newspaper.
The 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue is a diplomatic summit held every year since 2018. The Minister of External Affairs and the Defence Minister represent India and the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defence represent the United States. The first dialogue was held under the administration of then US President Donald Trump.
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