India, US discuss strategic cooperation, defence, clean energy in 2 plus 2 intersessional meeting

New Delhi, Sep 18 (Representative) India and the US held the bilateral 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting at the official level on Monday, September 16, in New Delhi, during which they took stock of the progress in the bilateral agenda including strategic cooperation, defence, resilient supply chain, clean energy, maritime domain awareness.They also discussed regional and international issues. While the Indian readout made no specific mention of Ukraine or Gaza, the US readout did. The Indian readout said: “Both sides reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in November 2023.Joint Secretary (Americas) Nagaraj Naidu, Ministry of External Affairs and Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) Vishwesh Negi, Ministry of Defense co-chaired the intersessional with US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Jedidiah P. Royal, a statement said. Both sides took stock of the progress and developments in the bilateral agenda including strategic cooperation, defence, technology collaboration, space cooperation, resilient supply chain, clean energy, maritime domain awareness, development cooperation including trilateral cooperation and people to people ties.

The officials also had an opportunity to exchange assessments on a range of regional and international issues. The 2+2 intersessional laid the groundwork in the lead up to the next 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to advance the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership,” the statement added. The US readout said: “The 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue advanced shared priorities, including defense cooperation, space and civil aviation collaboration, clean energy cooperation, and industrial and logistics coordination. “The officials discussed a range of issues, across the Indo-Pacific and worldwide, including support for a just and durable peace in Ukraine, as well as support for a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance in Gaza. Assistant Secretary Lu and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Royal reiterated the United States’ commitment to further enhancing ongoing partnerships and expanding people-to-people ties.”