Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday arrived at the Pentagon office in Washington DC to meet his US counterpart Lloyd J Austin III. Meanwhile, Singh was welcomed in an enhanced honour cordon ceremony.
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India and the US are holding the "2+2" ministerial meeting in Washington with the Indian side led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the American side led by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin today.
Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh arrived in Washington on Sunday for the fourth edition of the annual dialogue between India's external affairs and defence ministers and their US counterparts.
The "2+2" comes amidst heightened tensions between Russia and Ukraine and incidentally, the United Nations Security Council will be holding a meeting on Ukraine today.
According to the schedule released by US State Department Blinken will meet with Jaishankar at the Department of State at 9:00 a.m (local time).
Post that Blinken, Austin, Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh will participate in the U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue at the Department of State.
Following that Blinken, Austin, Jaishankar, and Rajnath Singh will attend a signing ceremony of Space Situational Awareness Memorandum of Understanding, which refers to the knowledge of the space environment, including location and function of space objects and space weather phenomena.
Later, Blinken will hold a joint press availability with Austin, Jaishankar, and Rajnath Singh. Moreover, Blinken will host a working dinner with Austin, Jaishankar, and Rajnath Singh at the Department of State.
The last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue between the two countries was held in October 2020 in New Delhi. India and the United States held a bilateral 2+2 inter-sessional meeting in September last year in Washington and exchanged assessments on developments in South Asia, the Indo-Pacific region and the Western Indian Ocean.
(With PTI inputs)
