India’s Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale held meetings with senior State Department officials here on Wednesday and discussed bilateral issues, including US-India strategic cooperation.
On his maiden visit to the US as Foreign Secretary, Gokhale held consultations with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Thomas Shannon.
Apart from bilateral matters, they are said to have discussed “shared interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and US support for India’s emergence as a leading power and security provider”.
No further details were immediately available on the meeting at which Indian Ambassador Navtej Sarna and US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells were also present.
Gokhale’s meetings, scheduled much before the recent developments with President Donald Trump replacing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, were aimed at preparing the ground for the first high-power “2+2 ministerial dialogue” between the two countries.
Although dates for the dialogue have not been notified, the meeting between India’s External Affairs and Defence Ministers and the US’s Secretary of State and Defence Secretary was widely expected to take place in the second half of April.
After a telephone conversation between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in early February, the White House had said that the two leaders “look forward to the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between their defence and diplomatic officials in April”.