Joint Statement on the 4th India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue
Recently, the 4th Annual 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between India and the United States was held in Washington.
2+2 Dialogue is a type of meeting of Foreign and Defense Ministers of India and its allies. It discusses strategic and security issues.
Key conclusions of the talks:
Maritime Cooperation: Both countries look forward to co-hosting the Indo-Pacific Army Chiefs Conference (IPACC) and the Indo-Pacific Armies Management Seminar (IPAMS) in 2023, co-hosted by India.
Trade: The two countries welcomed the 12th Ministerial Meeting of the India-US Trade Policy Forum (IPE) and the renewal of Working Group discussions. These steps are vital for expanding bilateral trade, removing market access barriers and improving ease of doing business.
Space: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) for the security of satellites of both the countries. During this, the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite was also discussed. It is planned to be launched from India in the year 2023.
New areas of cooperation in defence: The Indo-US Joint Technical Group (JTG) agreed to enhance cooperation in science and technology. Apart from this, discussions were also held to develop cooperation in new defense areas like space, artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber. Cooperation in the field of Defense Cyber and Special Forces including Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) was agreed. Revival of Defense Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) was also considered. This includes joint projects on cutting edge, newly emerging and critical military technologies.
Global Health: Expanding the USAID (United States Agency for International Development) supported COVID-19 learning was also discussed.
Source – The Hindu
