Both sides discussed issues like South Asia, Indian Ocean Region and the Indo-Pacific during meetings this week

India and the USA have decided to deepen the scope and content of their Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership.

Key facets of this partnership were discussed at the 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting and the India-USA Maritime Security Dialogue held in New Delhi during the week.

During these dialogues, the officials had an opportunity to discuss regional issues pertaining to South Asia, Indian Ocean Region and the Indo-Pacific. The two sides agreed to remain engaged with the objective of further enhancing the depth and substance of the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Thursday.

The ​India-USA 2+2 Inter-sessional meeting held on Wednesday was to follow-up on the India-U.S. 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in April 2022 in Washington D.C.

Both sides reviewed implementation of outcomes of the 2+2 Ministerial pertaining to bilateral cooperation in defence, counter-terrorism, maritime security, education, health, climate and clean energy, critical technologies, space, and people-to-people linkages.

"They discussed ways to further strengthen the Major Defence Partnership, including in new and emerging areas in the defence domain such as space, AI and cyber," the MEA added.

Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs Vani Rao, Assistant Secretary of State (South and Central Asian Affairs) Donald Lu and Assistant Secretary of Defense (Indo-Pacific Security Affairs) Ely Ratner led the respective delegations.

The 5th India-US Maritime Security Dialogue (MSD) was held on Thursday.

During the MSD, the two sides discussed developments in the global maritime domain, bilateral maritime cooperation endeavors, regional support initiatives and collaborative efforts such as Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness.

"They affirmed their shared desire to enhance maritime security internationally and strengthen cooperation towards a free, open and inclusive maritime order that would support security, inclusive growth and prosperity," the MEA said.

The Indian delegation included Additional Secretary (Disarmament and International Security Affairs) Sandeep Arya, Additional Secretary (Americas) Vani Rao, and Joint Secretary (Maritime and Systems) Dinesh Kumar. On the other hand, the US delegation was led by Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu and Assistant Secretary of Defence (Indo-Pacific Security Affairs) Ely Ratner.

The MSD was also attended by senior officials from the Ministries of External Affairs, Defense, NSCS, Indian Navy, and Coast Guard of India.