WASHINGTON: Two eminent American lawmakers have welcomed the successful conclusion of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between India and the US, saying that the deliberations brought “unprecedented cooperation” between the two countries.
During the third edition of the Indo-US 2+2 dialogue in New Delhi on Tuesday, the two countries vowed to ramp up their overall security ties, and inked a total of five pacts, including the strategic Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) that will allow sharing of high-end military technology, classified satellite data and critical information.
The other pacts will facilitate cooperation in areas of nuclear energy, earth sciences and Ayurveda.
The talks were led by defence minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar from the Indian side and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark T Esper from the US side.
“The US-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue has brought unprecedented cooperation between our two countries, pushing our Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership to new heights,” said Congressman Michael T McCaul , Republican Leader of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The achievements of the 2+2 dialogue, including the BECA geo-spatial cooperation agreement, add to a successful month, during which our two nations deepened the Quad framework with Japan and Australia, and welcomed Australia into the quadrilateral maritime Exercise Malabar, he said.
In a significant move amid a Sino-India border row, India on October 19 announced Australia’s participation in the upcoming Malabar exercise along with the US and Japan, effectively making it the first military-level engagement between the fourmember nation grouping — the Quad.
“The United States will keep working with India to maintain a free and open Indo-

Press Trust of India