India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue: Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin Arrives in India; MQ-9B Armed Drones, Jet Engines Likely On The Agenda

With the prospect of MQ-9B Guardian armed drones and the co-production of the F-414 jet engine on the horizon, United States Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin arrived in India on Thursday (9 November), for the India-US 2+2 joint ministerial dialogue.

He received a warm welcome from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh with a tri-service Guard of Honour at Palam.

Secretary Austin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will jointly chair the Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue with Singh and Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar today (10 November).

Among the topics for discussion, the Israel-Hamas conflict is likely to be a high on the agenda, with discussions expected on deals involving MQ-9B Guardian armed drones and the production of F-414 jet engines in India for Tejas Mk2.

Both of these agreements were agreed on with US President Joe Biden, when Prime Minister Modi visited the US in June 2023.

The 2+2 dialogue aims to conduct a high-level review of progress in defence and security cooperation, technology value chain collaborations, and people-to-people ties.

The Ministry of External Affairs highlighted that the ministers will work on advancing the futuristic roadmap for the India-US partnership as envisioned by Prime Minister Modi and President Biden in their discussions earlier this year.

India has extended an invitation to President Biden to be the chief guest for the Republic Day parade on 26 January, as well as the QUAD leaders summit.

A decision on the invitation is still awaited. Both sides will also address contemporary regional issues and exchange views on shared priorities for enhancing cooperation in multilateral platforms, including the QUAD framework.