US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Mark T Esper will arrive here on Monday for the third edition of the two plus two ministerial dialogue that takes place just one week before the presidential elections. Americans and amid Indian outrage. border row with China.
The two plus two dialogue will take place on Tuesday. The Indian side in the talks will be represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, S Jaishankar, and the Minister of Defense, Rajnath Singh.
A number of crucial bilateral, regional and global issues, including China’s efforts to expand influence in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as its aggressive behavior in eastern Ladakh, are likely to feature in the talks.
In recent months, the United States has been stepping up the attack on China over a variety of contentious issues, including the border dispute with India, its military assertiveness in the South China Sea, and the way Beijing handled anti-government protests in Hong Kong. .
Last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said the talks will involve a comprehensive discussion on cross-cutting bilateral issues, as well as deliberations on regional and global developments.
Pompeo and Esper will also hold bilateral meetings with their Indian counterparts. They are also scheduled to make a joint call to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Authorities said US Secretary of Defense Esper will receive a three-service honor guard at the South Block Gardens in Raisina Hills on Monday afternoon.
The two sides are expected to finalize the long-pending BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defense relations. The BECA will allow the exchange of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries.
Indo-American defense ties have improved in recent years.
In June 2016, the US designated India as a “Senior Defense Partner” with the intention of raising defense technology and trade exchange with India to a level commensurate with that of its closest allies and partners. .
The two countries signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 that allows their armies to use each other’s bases to repair and resupply supplies, as well as providing deeper cooperation.
The two countries signed another pact called COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018 that provides for interoperability between the two armies and provides for the sale of high-end technology from the US to India.
The first edition of the two plus two dialogue was held in Delhi in September 2018 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump approved the mechanism.
The second edition of the dialogue took place in Washington in December of last year.
The new framework of the ministerial dialogue was initiated in order to provide a vision for the future for the strategic partnership between the two countries.
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