• The fourth India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, the first under the Biden administration, was held in Washington on April 11. The Indian side was led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar. The US side was led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

• The Dialogue was preceded by a virtual meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden.

• As natural and trusted partners celebrating 75 years of diplomatic relations between the US and India, both countries seek to continue to promote a resilient, rules-based international order that safeguards sovereignty and territorial integrity, upholds democratic values, and promotes peace and prosperity for all.

• The 2+2 dialogue is held between the foreign and defence ministers of two countries.

• India has a 2+2 format dialogue mechanism on strategic and security issues with four countries — the US, Australia, Japan and Russia. 

India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue

• The India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, led by the heads of foreign and defence ministries of both countries, reviews the bilateral ties in defence, strategic and security domains as well as important regional and global issues. 

• It has played an instrumental role in developing the framework for future cooperation as well as expansion of ties in various areas of mutual interest.

• It was initiated to provide a positive, forward-looking vision for the India-US strategic partnership and to promote synergy in diplomatic and security efforts.

• The first edition of the 2+2 dialogue was held in New Delhi in September 2018 after the mechanism was approved by PM Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump.

• The second edition of the dialogue took place in Washington in December 2019.

• The third of 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between the two countries was held in October 2020 in New Delhi.

Highlights of the fourth 2+2 Dialogue:

• The ministers reaffirmed the importance of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership to international peace and security.

• They underlined the importance of strengthening the commercial and economic pillar of the India-US partnership to advance economic growth and deliver mutual prosperity for both countries. They applauded the rebound in bilateral trade between the two countries over the last year, surpassing $113 billion in goods.

• The ministers commended ongoing engagement under the two main tracks of the India-US Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership – the Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD) and the Strategic Clean Energy Partnership (SCEP) – to explore and identify low carbon pathways to develop and undertake joint research and development projects, mobilise finance, develop and promote green technologies, and enhance technical collaboration aimed at building on complementarities for facilitating energy transition.

• They expressed satisfaction on the progress made on different collaborative initiatives under the India-US Civil Nuclear Energy Working Group and the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership Joint Working Group. The ministers noted ongoing negotiations between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Westinghouse Electric Company (WEC) for the construction of six nuclear reactors in India. 

• Both sides decided to put in place a framework to advance cooperation in Critical and Emerging Technologies (CET) such as advanced communication technology, artificial intelligence, quantum science, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), semi-conductors and biotechnology.

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