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2+2 Dialogue With US Will Take Place In First Week Of September: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

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2+2 Dialogue With US Will Take Place In First Week Of September: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
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Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the 2+2 dialogue with the US will happen in the first week of September.

“The agenda will be to develop and strengthen strategic defence cooperation and to follow-on with what had transpired during the meeting with secretary defence Mattis,” said Sitharaman in a statement.

Last month, the US postponed the 2+2 dialogue, scheduled to be in Washington, due to "unavoidable reasons".

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Sitharaman were to travel to the US to take part in the meeting with US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Secretary Mattis on July 6.

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This new dialogue format was agreed upon between the two sides during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington in June 2017.

After June last year, the two countries have tried to schedule the dialogue many times with several dates having been considered.

Earlier this year also, the '2+2 dialogue' had been postponed due to uncertainty over the confirmation of Pompeo as President Donald Trump's new Secretary of State. Pompeo was later confirmed as Secretary of State in April.

The dialogue is seen as a vehicle to elevate the strategic relationship between the two countries.

The meeting was expected to focus on strengthening strategic, security, and defence cooperation.

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(With PTI inputs)

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