Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Foreign Minister S Jaishankar are likely to meet with their American counterparts US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark Esper on 26 and 27 October in New Delhi for the third edition of the India and the United States (US)’ two-plus-two dialogue as reported by The Times of India.
The likely subject of discussion will be to review the strategic cooperation between the two nations thoroughly.
This upcoming meeting will be watched very carefully by China because bilateral relationship between India and the US has grown exponentially in the last two years.
The third edition will take place at a time when India is looking at the possibility of a two-front war with China and Pakistan. Since President Donald Trump took office he took some bold decisions when it came to dealing with an aggressive China.
India is presently locked in a conflict by China on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh, and the US administration has been very critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic that has caused immeasurable damage to the global economy and security.
The first two-plus-two meet was conducted in September 2018 in New Delhi and the second meet was held in the US capital Washington in 2019 December.
India has now become one of the most important security partners of the US in the Indian Ocean Region and the Pacific. The military from both nations has regularly conducted exercises to develop strong interoperability to counter any threat to their combined interests.