New Delhi, Oct. 26 (UNI) U S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence Mark T Esper arrived in the Capital on Monday for the third edition of the 2+2 ministerial level talks with their counterparts in India.

According to a media advisory by the Ministry of External Affairs, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar in the evening at Hyderabad House. The 2+2 ministerial meeting will take place on Tuesday where Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Dr Jaishankar will lead the Indian delegations.

After the meeting, the visiting dignitaries will call on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the afternoon. They will leave the Capital just before the evening after joint interactUion with the media and a press statement. The 2+2 ministerial dialogue is taking place nearly seven months after U.S.President Donald Trump's visit to India this February and it also coincides with the American Presidential election which is underway.

Ahead of the crucial dialogue, the U.S. State Department said the country welcomed India's emergence as a leading regional and global power. ``As outlined in our National Security Strategy, the United States welcomes India's emergence as a leading regional and global power. The United States looks forward to collaborating closely with India during its upcoming term on the U.N. Security Council,' it said.

"Wheels up for my trip to India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia. Grateful for the opportunity to connect with our partners to promote a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific composed of independent, strong, and prosperous nations, " the U.S. Secretary of State said in a tweet Monday night.

Referring to the agenda for the meeting, the U.S. said the subjects to be covered included regional security cooperation, defence information sharing, military-to-military interactions and defence trade.

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