India and the U.S. will take up “specific issues” on security concerns in Asia on Tuesday, said government sources after preliminary talks over a meeting and dinner hosted by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar for the visiting U.S. delegation led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The sources said the meeting between the two Ministers had been “warm and productive” and both sides were “satisfied” that Indo-U.S. ties had grown in all spheres over the last four years of the Trump administration.“Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Pompeo were satisfied that Indo-U.S. ties have grown in virtually every domain including trade, energy, defence and education; the practice of consultations on foreign policy issues has also expanded, including regional and multilateral, we are working more closely in multilateral and plurilateral formats,” the official sources added.
The two ministers also discussed “shared concerns and interests” over how best to ensure stability and security in Asia, said the sources, adding that specific issues would be discussed during the 2+2 talks that include Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper. Prior to his visit Mr. Pompeo had said that during the meeting in Delhi they would speak about “how free nations can work together to thwart threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party”, making it clear that China’s actions would be on the table during the 2+2 talks.
Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Jaishankar also discussed their government’s positions on Afghanistan. Mr. Jaishankar highlighted India’s thinking over the reconciliation process and “continuing concern that decisions should be made by Afghans themselves without use of force”, adding that “cross-border terrorism was completely unacceptable”.
The Hindu