China to be focus? Blinken, Austin to meet Jaishankar, Rajnath in Delhi next week

Antony Blinken, the embattled US Secretary of State, after a host of diplomatic setbacks in West Asia, will visit New Delhi next week. Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will participate in the 2+2 ministerial dialogue in Delhi, a format of meeting of the foreign and defence ministers of India and its allies on strategic and security issues.

The dialogue isbeing held annually since 2018.

"The delegation will meet Minister for External Affairs S. Jaishankar, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and other senior Indian officials to discuss both bilateral and global concerns and developments in the Indo-Pacific," the US state department said in an official statement.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Besides the United States, India has 2+2 dialogues with three other key strategic partners, namely, Australia, Japan, and Russia.

This will be the fifth 2+2 dialogue between India and the United States,as Washington remains New Delhi's oldest and most important 2+2 talks partner since 2018.

India and the United States: How the ties have evolved since launch of 2+2 dialogue?

Back in 2018, the first 2+2 dialogue between India and the United States occurred during the times of former US President Donald Trump in the White House. The then-US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and the Defence Secretary James Mattis had met late Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi.

The launch of the dialogue has been described as a "reflection of the shared commitment" by India and the US to provide “a positive, forward-looking vision for the India-US strategic partnership and to promote synergy in their diplomatic and security efforts”.

The second, third and fourth editions of the 2+2 dialogues were held in the American and Indian capitals successively since then.

Also watch |Explained: India-US agreements on defence, AI, trade & space | World's two largest democracies

The most important facet of the dialogue is the cooperation on the Indo-Pacificto counter China's illegal territorial and maritime assertions, especially inthe region.

Besides Russia, the rest of the three 2+2 dialogue partners of New Delhi— Canberra, Washington andTokyo— are also India's partners in the Quad.

Diplomatically, through the 2+2 dialogue, Washington and New Delhiassert their "sharedcommitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states are respected, and countries are free from military, economic, and political coercion".

(With inputs from agencies)