NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will jointly welcome US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin III for the fifth ministerial 2+2 meeting on November 10.
"The 2+2 will enable a high-level review of progress being made in cross-cutting aspects of defence and security cooperation, technology value chain collaborations and people-to-people ties," said the ministry of external affairs (MEA).
The meeting comes at a time when two major conflicts are taking place, even though they don't have a direct impact on India or the US.
Apart from the Israel-Hamas war and Russia-Ukraine war, the four ministers are also likely to discuss the Canada-India diplomatic row, the Indo-Pacific and strengthening defence and diplomatic ties.
The Quad will be discussed too and India will try and firm up talks on whether the next Quad Summit (which is to be hosted by India) would be held in January 2024.
"If President Biden confirms his participation, PM Kishida and PM Albanese too would work their way around it and attend it. The possible date being considered is January 24th," said a source.