The existing India-U.S. Strategic and Commercial Dialogue, once described by the U.S. State Department as the “signature mechanism for advancing the United States’ and India’s shared priorities,” will be replaced by a dialogue in which the foreign and defense ministers will participate. The new dialogue format will involve the Indian foreign minister and the U.S. secretary of state as well as the Indian defense minister and the U.S. defense secretary.
The new ‘two plus two’ ministerial dialogue was announced in a White House readout of a telephone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the eve of India completing 70 years as an independent country on August 15.
Former Indian ambassador to the U.S. Lalit Mansingh said, “It [the new format] helps us because our strategic and defense interests reinforce each other. So a combined dialogue would be useful for India.” “Balancing commercial and strategic issues could be difficult now,” Mansingh added.
Live Mint reports that the two countries will have a separate dialogue on commercial issues, which will not include the foreign ministers.
