The much awaited 2+2 dialogue between the defence and external affairs ministers of India and the United States is likely to happen in New Delhi in the first week of September. Sources in the South Block claim that officials from both government are mulling over to organise the maiden dialogue in New Delhi instead of Washington. Earlier, the strategic dialogue was cancelled by the US authorities. But this time, when discussions began on holding the dialogue, New Delhi had asked to shift the venue to India.
Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were scheduled to travel to the US take part in the meeting with Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis on July 6. But on last minute, the US cancelled the dialogue due to scheduling issues, as Mike Pompeo had to travel to North Korea.
The new dialogue format of 2+2 was announced during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington D.C. on June 25-26, 2017, his firstever meeting with the US President Donald Trump, which was seen as a vehicle to elevate the strategic relationship between the two countries.
Official sources said that though the agenda of the talk will be to develop and strengthen the strategic defence cooperation, critical issue of how India can get a waiver from the CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions), which will hit Indian military imports from Russia and also the import of crude oil from Iran, will also figure in the dialogue. The procurement of S400 air defence missile system from Russia will be an important issue, which India will have to negotiate with the US.
But after the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, Indian authorities are hopeful on getting some waivers from the US. India is arguing that its negotiations with Russia over the purchase of S400 has been going for long.
However, Sitharaman has already made it clear that India was not bound by CAATSA since it was an American law and not a UN law, and India has conveyed its position on the issue to the US.
Meanwhile, as a part of the Indo-US bilateral defence cooperation, the 7th Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) meeting between Indian and the US delegation was held on Wednesday in New Delhi. The meeting was co-chaired by Secretary (Defence Production), Ajay Kumar and Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment, DoD, US Government, Ellen M. Lord.
The DTTI meetings are held twice a year, alternately in India and the US with an aim to bring sustained leadership focus to the bilateral defence trade relationship and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of defence equipment.
During the meeting, Ellen Lord brought out that India-US defence cooperation is one of the core pillars of the defence relationship between the two countries and is continuing apace. She said the US has designated India as a ‘Major Defence Partner’ and expects the defence relationship between the two countries to be further strengthened. She also stated that DTTI is an important forum leading to the 2+2 dialogue between the two countries.