New Delhi. The inaugural round of the India-US 2+2 inter-sessional meeting was held in New Delhi on January 11.

The Indian delegation was led jointly by Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary (AMS), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Shambhu S. Kumaran, Joint Secretary (PIC), Ministry of Defence (MoD). The US delegation was led jointly by Ambassador Ms Alice Wells, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Mr Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of Defense.

The inter-sessional meeting was set up to follow up on the decisions taken during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue, the first round of which was held in New Delhi in September 2018, and to make continued progress on bilateral cooperation on cross-cutting defence and foreign policy issues of interest to both sides.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional developments as partners and stakeholders for a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.