New Delhi. India and the United States held a round of the bilateral Intersessional meeting in Monterey, California on August 22 and reviewed the progress and development of bilateral relations since the inception of 2+2 Ministerial level meeting in September, 2018.

The Indian delegation was led jointly by Gourangalal Das, Joint Secretary in Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and V Anandarajan, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Defence (MoD). The US delegation was led jointly by Ambassador Alice Wells, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs and Mr Randall Schriver, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs.

The two sides reviewed the progress and development of bilateral relations in cross-cutting defence, security, and foreign policy areas since the inaugural 2+2 Ministerial meeting of September 2018, and explored further possibilities of cooperation in these fields based on common interest.

They also discussed regional developments, and agreed to pursue their quest for a free, open, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The Intersessional meeting mechanism was set up pursuant to the 2+2 Ministerial. The two sides agreed to carry forward these discussions.