India and US to hold Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi next week

The External Affairs Ministry has said the third India-US two plus two Ministerial Dialogue to be held on October 27will entail a comprehensive discussion on cross-cutting bilateral issues of mutual interest.

India will be hosting the Dialogue in New Delhi.

Briefing media in New Delhi Thursday evening, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said both sides will also exchange views on regional and international issues.

He said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper will have bilateral meetings with their counterparts, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar.

They will also be meeting NSA Ajit Doval and there will be a joint call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The spokesperson said India and the US have comprehensive global strategic partnership which includes political, security, defence, economic, commercial, technology and people to people contact.

The first two 22 Ministerial dialogues were held in New Delhi in September 2018 and in Washington DC in December 2019.

The agenda for the third dialogue will cover all bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.