US defence secretary Lloyd Austin reaches New Delhi for India-US 2+2 dialogue
The external affairs ministry said S Jaishankar and Antony Blinken will hold a bilateral meeting on Friday morning before the 2+2 dialogue begins
NEW DELHI: US defence secretary Lloyd Austin arrived in New Delhi on Thursday and was received by his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh. US secretary of state Antony Blinken, who has been engaged in hectic diplomacy over the Israel-Hamas conflict, was set to arrive in the Indian capital late in the night.
Blinken and Austin will co-chair the 2+2 ministerial dialogue with Singh and external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Friday. This will be followed by a bilateral meeting between Austin and Singh, the defence ministry said in a statement.
The external affairs ministry said Jaishankar and Blinken will hold a bilateral meeting on Friday morning before the 2+2 dialogue gets underway.
“A number of strategic, defence and technology issues are expected to be discussed during the 2+2 dialogue and the bilateral meeting,” the defence ministry statement said. It noted that Austin last visited India in June when he met with Rajnath Singh.
“Glad to receive my friend and @SecDef Austin at Palam, New Delhi. Looking forward to fruitful deliberations during 2 Plus 2 Ministerial Dialogue and the bilateral meeting to be held tomorrow,” Singh posted on X after receiving Austin at the airport.
The dialogue is also an opportunity to take forward the futuristic roadmap for the bilateral partnership, the external affairs ministry said earlier.
A range of global issues, including the Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict, are also expected to be on the agenda of the meeting, people familiar with the matter said. The two sides are further expected to focus on new areas to ramp up India-US defence and security cooperation.
General Electrics has signed an agreement with state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to manufacture GE-414 jet engines in India. The Indian side is also acquiring 31 MQ-9B Reaper drones from the US and the two sides have made rapid progress under the initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) in recent months.