US Deputy Secretary for State Stephen Beigun said that the US-India 2+2 dialogue, a Ministerial-level interaction on defence, foreign affairs and strategic ties, will happen sometime in the ongoing fall season but has not revealed a date.

“My visit (to India) was part of a series of engagement between the two countries that have taken place over the course of summer and fall. Hopefully we will see a successful 2+2 meeting that will be held some point this fall between the Ministers...,” Beigun said at a telephonic press conference on Tuesday on his recent visit to India and Bangladesh.

When questioned on the US Presidential elections scheduled on November 3 and what it could mean for India, Beigun said that India and the US have had good relationships irrespective of the party in power, and has been under various Presidents including George Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper will meet their Indian counterparts External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the third edition of the India-US 2+2 Dialogue which is reportedly likely at the end of the month.

Beigun said that both he and India’s Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla have maintained a steady engagement with a number of Indo-Pacific partners in responding to Covid-19 pandemic and also sketching how countries recovered from the pandemic since it included cooperation to repatriate citizens who are trapped abroad when travel restrictions were imposed.

The US Deputy Secretary also discussed cooperation to tackle Covid-19 pandemic including the movement of life critical medicines production of therapeutic and vaccines with Shringla. “It is just another element of deepening India-US relationship,” he said at the briefing.

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