Following the 2+2 ministerial dialogue, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 27 in New Delhi. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval were also present during the talks. From achieving “significant achievement” of signing the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) to other remarkable expansion in cooperation against “threats” by China, the leaders from both nations hailed the two-day visit of America’s senior officials to India as a “success”. Ahead of the 2+2 talks, Doval had also met with Esper and Pompeo.
‘Two productive days’: EAM Jaishankar
Earlier, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh touted the progression in military cooperation as going “very well”. He said that in just two days, both US and India have “explored probable capacity building & other joint cooperation activities in third countries including our neighbourhood & beyond.” Singh even hailed the signing of BECA as “significant achievement”. Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on October 27 hailed the two-day India-US 2+2 ministerial talks as “productive days”. While delivering a joint statement alongside Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US’ Mike Pompeo and Mark Esper, Jaishankar said that “main focus” of the discussions was the Indo-Pacific and the leaders reiterated the need for peace and stability in the reason. EAM also “made it clear” that cross border terrorism is “completely unacceptable.” Apart from regional issues, the External Affairs Minister noted that the talks included development in neighbouring countries. Jaishankar said that when India will acquire the status of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, it is looking forward to working with the United States and touted the ‘remarkable growth’ in the bilateral relations between both the nations while hailing the expansion in cooperation. S Jaishankar emphasised, “What is important is that India US collaboration can be a force of good. It is strategic and comprehensive.”
