NEW DELHI: The inaugural India-UK 2+2 foreign and defence dialogue on Monday saw the two sides focusing on ways to boost cooperation in a range of key areas such as trade and investment, defence, technologies, civil aviation, health and energy.
Both sides expressed satisfaction at the high-level political exchanges which have provided guidance and momentum to the multifaceted ties. They expressed happiness on the progress made in diverse areas of India-UK Roadmap 2030 including political exchanges, economic cooperation, defence and security, as well as regional and multilateral cooperation.
At the senior official-level dialogue, the two sides also discussed international developments including in the Indo-Pacific region and considered the possibility of enhancing anti-terror collaboration, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
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. The Indian delegation was co-chaired by Piyush Srivastava, joint secretary Europe West, Ministry of External Affairs and Vishwesh Negi, joint secretary, international cooperation, Ministry of Defence.
The UK delegation was co-chaired by Ben Mellor, India director, Indian Ocean Directorate, FCDO and Lt. General Rob Magowan, deputy chief of defence staff, finance and military capability, Ministry of Defence.
The two sides also considered the possibility of enhancing collaboration in areas of counterterrorism, HADR (High Availability Disaster Recovery) and maritime security.