India, US set to have 2+2 talks next week
Their visit seems to be a certainty, with Sri Lanka announcing Tuesday that Pompeo will visit Colombo for talks on October 28
New Delhi/Colombo: US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and defence secretary Mark Esper look all set to hold “2+2” talks in New Delhi on October 26-27 with their Indian counterparts S. Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh.
Their visit seems to be a certainty, with Sri Lanka announcing Tuesday that Pompeo will visit Colombo for talks on October 28.
Pompeo will also visit the Maldives too after Sri Lanka, PTI reported from Colombo. Neither India nor the United States have so far confirmed the dates for the India-US 2+2 talks. India had said last Thursday it looked forward to holding the dialogue in New Delhi at an early date.
All eyes are on whether India and the US will ink the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (Beca) defence pact for “greater geospatial information-sharing” at the forthcoming India-US 2+2 talks. The Beca is the third proposed defence pact between the two nations after the logistics pact in 2016 and the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement in 2018.