Wild speculations over 2+2 should be put to rest: India

The External Affairs Ministry on Thursday said that "wild speculations" over the postponement of 2+2 dialogue between India and the US should be put to rest now as the US has clarified the deferment was "unrelated to bilateral relationship".

It stressed that the India-US relationship is "on a firm footing" and that there is "nothing to suggest" that there is a damage to the relationship.

"The US Embassy has issued a statement this morning which very clearly says that the scheduling change was prompted by reasons unrelated to the bilateral relationship. It also says both sides remain committed to the relationship," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said here in response to a query.

"And I feel that after their statement and our statement, the wild speculations that some media houses are indulging in should be put to rest."

Stressing that the bilateral relations were on a "firm footing", Kumar said: "The two sides will remain engaged to finalise the dates for the dialogue in near future either in India or the US. I think a similar statement was also made by (US Ambassador to the UN) Nikki Haley."

The 2+2 Dialogue involving External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and their US counterparts Mike Pompeo and James Mattis -- scheduled to be held in Washington on July 6 -- was cancelled by the US on Wednesday.

The format was agreed upon between the two sides during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington in June 2017 when he met US President Donald Trump for the first time.

Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis were supposed to host the Indian ministers at the meeting that was to focus on strengthening strategic, security, and defence cooperation with both countries confronting global challenges.

The dialogue was being looked at as a centrepiece of the growing ties between India and the US which Washington wants to scale up by extending the strategic vision from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean.

--IANS

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