India-US High-Level '2+2 Dialogue', Postponed Last Month, Now In September

The high-level '2+2 dialogue' between India and the United States, that was postponed last month, will take place in the first week of September, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

"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," Ms Sitharaman said, according to ANI.

The US had postponed the 2+2 dialogue with India as Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo had to travel to North Korea to discuss the country's denuclearisation plan.

The reason for postponing the dialogue, scheduled for July 6 in Washington, was conveyed to Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj by Mr Pompeo over the phone, sources had then said.

Ms Swaraj and Ms Sitharaman were to travel to the US to take part in the meeting with Mr Pompeo and Mr Mattis.

Sources had said defence and trade relations between the US and India were on track, rejecting speculation that postponement of the dialogue was reflective of a slide in bilateral ties.

Earlier this year as well, the '2+2 dialogue' was postponed due to uncertainty over the confirmation of Mike Pompeo as President Donald Trump's new Secretary of State.

On June 12, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had held a historic summit in Singapore in which they had discussed denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

With inputs from PTI and ANI