INDIA-U.S 2+2 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE

Sept. 7, 2018

During the inaugural India-U.S. ‘2+2’ Ministerial Dialogue, India and the United States signed the COMCASA that will lead to a new generation of bilateral military partnership.

Background:

The ‘2+2’ dialogue is a meeting between the India Ministers for External Affairs and Defence, and the US Secretaries of State and Defence to focus on “strengthening strategic, security and defence cooperation” between the two countries.
The two countries agreed upon holding such a dialogue during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to U.S. last year.
At the ministerial level, this is the first time that India will be holding a ‘2+2’ dialogue with any country. At secretarial level, however, India has had similar ‘2+2’ dialogue with other countries.

Key highlights of the inaugural India-U.S. ‘2+2’ Ministerial Dialogue are –

India and the U.S. signed the landmark Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) which comes into force immediately and is valid for 10 years.
It will allow the U.S. to transfer specialised equipment for encrypted communications for U.S.-origin platforms like C-17, C-130 and P-8I aircraft to India.
With COMCASA, India has concluded 3 of the 4 foundational agreements with the U.S. that had been planned, the other two being General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) and Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).

Both sides called on Pakistan to stop terrorist strikes on “other countries” and urged for maritime freedom in the Indo-Pacific region.
Both sides India and the U.S. will hold a first-ever tri service joint exercise on the east coast of India in 2019.
Both sides will soon begin negotiations on an Industrial Security Annex (ISA) that would allow Indian private sector to collaborate with the U.S. defence industry.
To further defence innovation, a Memorandum of Intent was signed between the U.S. Defence Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Indian Defence Innovation Organization – Innovation for Defence Excellence (DIO-iDEX).
The next 2+2 meeting is to be held in the United States in 2019.