India looking forward to 2+2 intersessional meet with US: MEA

New Delhi [India], September 1 (ANI): On the sidelines of the India-Japan 2+2 ministerial meeting, the MEA said India is also looking forward to a 2+2 intersession meeting with the US with several senior officials, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing on Thursday.
In a weekly presser, Bagchi said "The 2+2 with Japan is something that we are looking at. We are also looking at mini 2+2 as we could have senior officials meeting here."
Highlighting the 2+2 talks as a reflection of close coordination and collaboration with both the Quad partners as well as bilateral partners, Bagchi described the meeting with Japan as a crucial one as it is one of the few countries with which India conducts a 2+2 ministerial dialogue.
In an earlier briefing, Bagchi termed the India-Japan 2+2 ministerial meeting as an opportunity to review security cooperation between the two nations.
"Japan has offered to hold the next India-Japan 2+2 meeting. However, it has not happened yet due to Covid-19 and other factors," the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson said adding that the details of the meeting will be shared in the public domain once finalized.
The US is the first country that India has started the 2+2 dialogue with and is now looking forward to the intersession meet with the US here.
"The US is the first one we started and we look forward to 2+2 intersessional with the US here. We will share with you details about the participation and who all will be representing from the other countries a little later and we would also probably have QUAD-level sessions," Bagchi said in a statement.
India-Japan 2+2 will be the second such meeting between the two countries as the inaugural meeting of the India-Japan Foreign and Defence Ministerial Dialogue (2+2) was held on November 30, 2019, in New Delhi.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met then Foreign Affairs Minister of Japan Motegi Toshimitsu and then Defense Minister of Japan Kono Taro, on November 30, 2019, in New Delhi for the first India-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting.
The ministers had affirmed that this dialogue will further enhance the strategic depth of bilateral security and defence cooperation. Acknowledging emerging security challenges, the Mministers reiterated their commitment to advancing bilateral security cooperation based on the 2008 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation and the 2009 Action Plan to advance Security Cooperation.
Notably, the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue was held between Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on April 11 in Washington.
During the India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, the defence and foreign ministers of the two countries forged new and deeper cooperation across the breadth of the US-India partnership, including defence, science and technology, trade, climate, public health, and people-to-people ties. (ANI)