The United States Secretary of States Mike Pompeo left for his India visit on Sunday. He is expected to reach and continue the 2+2 talks which are held annually between India and the US to strengthen ties. As India finds itself amongst the military standoff with China, 2+2 talks serve as the perfect opportunity for Washington to bolster its allies against Beijing.
Pompeo along with US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper will meet their Indian counterparts, Minister of External Affair S Jaishankar and Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh to continue the 2+2 talks. The first 2+2 talks were held in September 2018 in New Delhi and Washington DC in 2019, respectively.
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US State Sec Pompeo to arrive in India for the 2+2 talks: Key Points
- The India-US 2+2 talks will focus on four themes -- regional security cooperation, defence information sharing, military-to-military interactions, and defence trade, said the US State Department on Friday. The first two 2+2 Ministerial dialogues had been held in New Delhi in September 2018 and Washington DC in 2019
- During Pompeo's trip, which Defense Secretary Mark Esper will join, India is expected to sign an agreement that will give it access to sensitive U.S. satellite data to help improve targeting of missiles and drones, Indian officials said.
- As part of an intensifying pushback against China's growing economic and military power in the region, Pompeo will also travel to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, two Indian Ocean countries struggling with a mountain of Chinese debt incurred to finance big infrastructure projects.
- Pompeo will conclude his trip, which comes in the final week before the U.S. presidential election, in Indonesia, which is also locked in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea.
- "We're looking forward to strengthening critical relationships with our friends and partners, emphasizing our deep commitment to the Indo-Pacific and advancing our vision for long-term partnership and prosperity in the region," said Dean Thompson, principal deputy assistant secretary at the State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.
- Next month, India hosts 'Malabar', the biggest naval wargames in years, with the other Quad members - an exercise that China has in the past opposed. India's decision on expanding the exercises comes at a time when it is locked in a military stand-off on the disputed land border with China.
