New Delhi. India and the United States have discussed regional maritime security issues and exchanged views on ways to further strengthen bilateral maritime security cooperation.

The discussion took place during the fourth round of the India-US Maritime Security Dialogue held in Monterey, California on August 23. They also reviewed implementation of the decisions taken during the earlier three rounds of Maritime Security Dialogue.

The Indian delegation was led by Indra Mani Pandey, Additional Secretary (D&ISA), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Richa Misra, Joint Secretary (Navy), Ministry of Defence (MoD). Ambassador Alice Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Department of State, and Mr. Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Department of Defence, led the US delegation.

Both the sides also agreed to hold the next round of the Dialogue in India on a mutually convenient date.