The 2+2 Intersessional and Maritime Security Dialogues held on September 7 discussed several initiatives to strengthen the US-India relationship, particularly to address various security challenges

A statement provided by John Supple, Department of Defense Spokesperson, released yesterday stated the readout of US-India 2+2 inter-sessional and maritime security dialogues.

According to the released statement, Dr Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, co-chaired the sixth US-India 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue in New Delhi on September 7^th with other delegates, including Donald Lu, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Vani Rao, Additional Secretary of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, and Colonel Shailender Arya of the Indian Ministry of Defence. Assistant Secretary Lu, Assistant Secretary Ratner, and senior Indian officials had chaired the previous maritime security dialogues held in 2019 in Monterey.

The 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue promoted a comprehensive set of initiatives spanning the spectrum of the US-India alliance, including trade, people-to-people relations, science and technology, public health, and defence and security. On the defence front, Assistant Secretary Ratner and his counterparts spoke about recent events in East Asia and several other crucial regional security challenges. The officials also examined the status of operationalizing significant bilateral initiatives on information-sharing, defence industry partnerships, and joint service engagements to enable integrated, multi-domain operations. They agreed to increase collaboration in emerging fields like defence technology, cyberspace, and artificial intelligence.

Yesterday, during the maritime security dialogue, US and Indian officials discussed ways to increase US-India partnerships both bilaterally and with like-minded countries. To address challenges, including the undersea domain, the countries identified new opportunities to coordinate capacity-building activities in the south and southeast Asia, strengthen logistics cooperation, and drive forward high-end navy-to-navy collaboration. As the United States and India collaborate to promote a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, Assistant Secretary Ratner underlined the Department's dedication to keeping U.S.-India cooperation at the centre of its regional strategy.