External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will on July 6 visit the United States for the first meeting of the “2+2 Dialogue” with Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James N Mattis.

This new dialogue format was agreed to between the two sides during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington on June 25-26, 2017.

“The two sides are expected to share perspectives on strengthening their strategic and security ties and exchange views on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest,” Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

The inaugural 2+2 Dialogue was earlier scheduled to be held in April but was postponed after US President Donald Trump fired Rex Tillerson from the post of Secretary of State and nominated Mike Pompeo in his place.

Pompeo got his confirmation by the US Senate at a later date. Incidentally, the Indian delegation comprising of Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra were in the US shortly after Tillerson was sacked by Trump.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Friday, 22 June 2018 | PNS | New Delhi