Amid trade tussle, India & US hold 2+2 meeting to discuss strategic cooperation

Amid trade tensions, India and the United States on Monday held the 2+2 Intersessional Dialogue involving senior defence and external affairs ministry officials.

Nagaraj Naidu Kakanur, the Additional Secretary (Americas) at the Ministry of External Affairs and Vishwesh Negi, the Joint Secretary (International Cooperation) at the Ministry of Defence, held a virtual meeting with Bethany P. Morrison, the Senior Bureau Official for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and Jedidiah P Royal, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, the MEA and US Department of State said.

The Intersessional Dialogue serves as a preparatory meeting for the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue of the external affairs and defence ministers of the two countries. The dialogue was initiated in 2018 after an understanding between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump in the latter’s first term.

The MEA in a statement said that India and the United States looked forward to signing a new 10-year Framework for the India-US Major Defense Partnership.

‘A bilateral relationship that benefits both the people’

In near-identical statements, the MEA and State Department said that the chairs considered the meeting to be positive and expressed eagerness to continue enhancing the breadth and depth of the bilateral relationship in a manner that benefits the people of both the countries.

Through the Intersessional Dialogue, officials “advanced bilateral initiatives, discussed regional security developments, and exchanged perspectives on a number of shared strategic priorities”, the MEA said.

Officials discussed trade and investment; energy security, including strengthening civil-nuclear cooperation; critical minerals exploration; counternarcotics and counterterrorism cooperation; and more, the MEA further said.

The two sides also discussed building upon the progress made in defense industrial, science, and technology cooperation; operational coordination; regional cooperation; and information-sharing; under the auspices of the India-US COMPACT arrangement, the MEA said.

The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to promoting a safer, stronger, and more prosperous Indo-Pacific region through the Quad initiative, the MEA said.

Trump’s tariffs kick in tomorrow

Trump’s additional 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods over the purchase of Russian oil will kick in on Wednesday.

Trump has slapped a total of 50 per cent tariffs on India. He imposed 25 per cent tariff on July 31 as part of the broader rollout on more than 60 countries and topped that with 25 per cent additional India-specific tariffs as a punishment for the continued purchase of Russian oil.

The Indian government has said that Trump’s tariffs could affect up to 60 per cent of Indian exports to the United States to the tune of $48 billion.

Analysts have said that Trump’s tariffs could drag India’s GDP growth down by up to 1 per cent. Some of the worst-hit sectors are expected to labour-intensive and politically-sensitive sectors of shrimps, fishes, edibles, and textiles.