Sushma Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman to visit US for meet

New Delhi: India and the United States will meet for their “2+2 dialogue” at the foreign and defence ministerial level on July 6, the MEA officially announced on Thursday, adding that “the two sides are expected to share perspectives on strengthening their strategic and security ties and exchange views on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest.”

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will travel to the United States for the meeting. US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James N. Mattis will represent the American side.

Despite disagreements at the trade level, the two countries are continuing with their strategic engagement and areas of convergence such as the Indo-Pacific region and the fight against terrorism. India had recently built bridges with China and shored up its strategic ties with Russia through informal summits betwween PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan and between PM Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Sochi in Russia.

In a statement, the MEA said, “External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit the United States for the first meeting of the ‘2+2 Dialogue’ on 6 July 2018 with Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James N. Mattis.”