India and the United Kingdom on Monday held the inaugural 2+2 Foreign and Defence Dialogue in New Delhi to discuss progress made in the areas of trade and investment, economic cooperation, defence and security and multilateral cooperation.
The 2+2 dialogue at the Senior Official level is a mechanism to discuss and review all aspects of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian delegation was represented by co-chaired by Piyush Srivastava, Joint Secretary Europe West in MEA and Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary of International Cooperation in the Ministry of Defence.
“Both delegations expressed satisfaction at the regular high-level political exchanges and interactions which have provided guidance and momentum to India-UK multifaceted ties,” the MEA said in a release.
“They expressed happiness on the progress made in diverse areas of India-UK Roadmap 2030 including political exchanges, economic cooperation, defence and security, people-to-people ties, as well as regional and multilateral cooperation,” the statement added.
During the dialogue, India and the UK discussed possibilities for further collaboration, particularly in areas of trade and investment, defence, critical and emerging technologies and more. Officials from both sides exchanged assessments about recent international developments including in the Indo-Pacific region.
They also considered the possibility of enhancing collaboration in areas of counterterrorism, HADR and maritime security, said the MEA. They agreed to report the outcome of the Dialogue to higher bilateral mechanisms, Foreign Office Consultations and Defence Consultative Group, and hold a second meeting of the Dialogue in the UK at a mutually convenient time next year.
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