What Is The ‘2+2’ Format Of Dialogue

Table of Contents

The fourth ‘2+2’ dialogue between India and the United States is underway in Washington DC.
India’s External Affairs and Defence Ministers, S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh, are meeting with their American counterparts, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

What is 2+2 dialogue?

The 2+2 dialogue is a format of meeting of the foreign and defence ministers of India and its allies on strategic and security issues.
A 2+2 ministerial dialogue enables the partners to better understand and appreciate each other’s strategic concerns and sensitivities taking into account political factors on both sides, in order to build a stronger, more integrated strategic relationship in a rapidly changing global environment.

India has 2+2 dialogues with four key strategic partners:
1. The US,
2. Australia,
3. Japan, and
Besides Russia, the other three countries are also India’s partners in the Quad.

The first India-Japan talks in the 2+2 format were held between Jaishankar and Singh and their Japanese counterparts Foreign Affairs Minister Motegi Toshimitsu and Minister of Defense Kono Taro on November 30, 2019 in New Delhi.

The inaugural 2+2 dialogue with Australia was held in September 2021 when Jaishankar and Singh met with their counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton in New Delhi.

India held its first 2+2 dialogue with Russia in December last year, when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited India.

The US is India’s oldest and most important 2+2 talks partner.
The first 2+2 dialogue between the two countries was held during the Trump Administration, when then Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and then Secretary of Defence James Mattis met the late Sushma Swaraj and then Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi in September 2018.

The second and third editions of the 2+2 dialogues were held in Washington DC and New Delhi in 2019 and 2020 respectively.
The launch of the dialogue was seen as a “reflection of the shared commitment” by India and the US to provide “a positive, forward-looking vision for the India-US strategic partnership and to promote synergy in their diplomatic and security efforts”.

The fourth India-US 2+ 2 Ministerial Dialogue will take place from April 10-15.
The Indian delegation will be led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and the US will be represented by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Llyod Austin.

According to Defence Minister, he will travel to the headquarters of the US Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) in Hawai as part of the trip.
The INDOPACOM is the oldest and largest combatant command of the US that is responsible for American military activities in the Indo-Pacific, a region that has been witnessing growing Chinese military muscle-flexing.

Over the years, the strategic bilateral relationship with its partners, including the dialogues held in the 2+2 format, have produced tangible and far-reaching results for India.
India and the US have signed a troika of “foundational pacts” for deep military cooperation, beginning with the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, followed by the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) after the first 2+2 dialogue in 2018, and then the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) in 2020.
The strengthening of the mechanisms of cooperation between the two militaries are of significance in the context of an increasingly aggressive China, which threatens a large number of countries in its neighbourhood and beyond, and which has been challenging several established norms and aspects of international relations.
“The 2 2 Dialogue will also provide an opportunity to exchange views about important regional and global developments and how we can work together to address issues of common interest and concern,” Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

Question:
Which countries are NOT included in the Quad Group?