FS Gokhale meets US under secretary to prepare for two plus two dialogue

India's new Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon held preparatory talks for the next first bilateral two plus two talks.

The two top diplomats held a wide range of talks on bilateral and regional issues in addition to laying the ground work for the two plus two meeting in April, sources told PTI.

While things are in a state of flux at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department, because of the firing of Rex Tillerson as the Secretary of State and his replacement Mike Pompeo is yet to be confirmed, officials said that as of now there was no indication from the American side on any changes in the forthcoming major talks between the two countries.

Officials from the either side have not yet announced any dates of such a dialogue, but it was previously scheduled for some time in mid-April.

The launch of two-plus-two dialogue was announced last summer when Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a successful meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

The dialogue involves External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and their American counterparts.

During his current visit, Gokhale is also scheduled to meet officials at the White House and US Trade Representative in addition to joining Defense Secretary Mohan Kumar for a joint meetings involving officials from the State Department and the Pentagon.

The Indian Ambassador to the US, Navtej Singh Sarna, also accompanied Gokhale at his meeting with Shannon, which was described as fruitful and result oriented.