India-U.S. 2+2 Inter-Sessional meeting held
New Delhi, Jan 11 (IBNS): The inaugural round of the India-U.S. 2+2 inter-sessional meeting was held in New Delhi on Friday.
The Indian delegation was led jointly by Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (AMS), Ministry of External Affairs and Shambhu S. Kumaran, Joint Secretary (PIC), Ministry of Defence.
The U.S. delegation was led jointly by Ambassador Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of Defense.
The inter-sessional meeting was set up to follow up on the decisions taken during the India-U.S. Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue, the first round of which was held in New Delhi in September 2018, and to make continued progress on bilateral cooperation on cross-cutting defence and foreign policy issues of interest to both sides.
The two sides also exchanged views on regional developments as partners and stakeholders for a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
During a telephonic conversation when New Year greeting was exchanged, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump had expressed satisfaction at the progress in India-U.S. strategic partnership in 2018, officials said on Tuesday.
As per a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs: "They appreciated developments such as the launch of the new 2+2 Dialogue mechanism and the first-ever Trilateral Summit of India, the U.S. and Japan."
"The two leaders took positive note of growing bilateral cooperation in defence, counter-terrorism and energy and coordination on regional and global issues," read the statement.
The two leaders had agreed to continue to work together for further strengthening India-U.S. bilateral relations in 2019.
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