New Delhi

The annual 2+2 ministerial dialogue between India and United States will take place in December.

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India's external affairs minister Dr S Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh will travel to Washington for the meeting.  Three rounds of dialogue have taken place between the two sides so far in September 2018, December 2019 and in October last year. The December dialogue will be the fourth meeting between the two sides. The dates for the dialogue are still being finalised. 

The 2+2 meet is an annual mechanism at the foreign and defence ministries level between India and the US meant to discuss bilateral ties in defence, strategic and security domains.

The inaugural India-US ministerial 2+2 dialogue was held on September 6, 2018 in New Delhi in which the then US secretary of state Michael R. Pompeo and secretary of defence James N. Mattis had visited India to hold dialogue with EAM late Sushma Swaraj and former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

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India has 2+2 mechanism at foreign and defence ministers' level with four countries - US, Japan, Australia and Russia. Russia is the only non-Quad member with which India has this mechanism. The maidan Indo-Russia 2+2 is expected to meet soon.

The India-US 2+2 meet will come in the month that will see the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India for the annual India Russia summit.

WION first broke the news of the Russian President coming to Delhi on December 6. Relations between Moscow and Washington are frayed currently due to multiple factors. Putin's visit will coincide with the delivery of S-400 missiles to India that could attract US's CAATSA - Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) sanctions. 

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However, it depends on the US Congress on whether there will there be a waiver for India. Saturday saw a US Congressional delegation meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The US Congressional delegation was led by Senator John Cornyn and included Senator Michael Crapo, Senator Thomas Tuberville, Senator Michael Lee, Congressman Tony Gonzales and Congressman John Kevin Elizey. Senator John Cornyn is the co-founder and co-chair of the Senate Caucus on India and Indian-Americans.

A release by Indian PMO said, "Prime Minister appreciated the consistent support and constructive role of the US Congress in deepening the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership which is anchored in shared democratic values."

They had "warm and frank discussion on regional issues" including those related to South Asia and the Indo Pacific, the release stated, explaining that the PM and the visiting delegation "noted the increasing convergence of strategic interests between the two strategic partners and expressed the desire to further enhance cooperation with an aim to promote global peace and stability.

Earlier this year, PM Modi had visited the US and had held bilateral talks with US President Joe Biden in Washington. The relationship has also enjoyed strong bipartisan support in the US Congress. The India Caucus in the US Congress is the largest single-country Caucus with over 150 members.