There is an "incredible momentum" in the US-India defence relationship and the much awaited 2+2 dialogue between the two countries will take place here in early April, a top Pentagon official has said during a Congressional hearing on the Indo-Pacific region.
The last meeting of the 2+2 dialogue was held in New Delhi in 2020 and the next meeting is to be hosted by the US in Washington. The 2+2 ministerial dialogue takes place between foreign and defence ministers of both sides.
India and the United States held a bilateral 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting at the official level on 1 September 2021 in Washington DC. They reviewed progress made since the last 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in October 2020.
Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told members of the House Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing on Wednesday on the Indo-Pacific region that he perceives the US-India defence relationship as one with "incredible momentum".
At the same time, he acknowledged that there are challenges with the relationship with India.
"But I think they're manageable and we are moving forward very rapidly in deepening the partnership," he said.
"We're going to hold our highest senior-level engagement with them in early April.
"That's a two plus two with Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken, Secretary (of Defence Lloyd) Austin and their (Indian) counterparts (External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh); in that meeting we'll discuss a number of activities that not only are unprecedented, but are the kinds of things that would have been unimaginable 10 years ago or even five years ago," Ratner said.