India-U.S. 2+2 will address broad agenda while working to manage differences on Ukraine

Defence, S&T, climate and public health, building supply chains are high on the agenda

India and the U.S. will hold their fourth annual ‘2+2’ Defence and Foreign Ministry dialogue on April 11 in Washington, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine looming over the discussions and occupying a prominent place on the agenda.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who arrived in Washington on Saturday night, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, arrived on Sunday, will meet their counterparts, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in the first such dialogue of the Biden administration.

The last meeting in this format was in October 2020. Last year’s meeting was pushed back multiple times, owing to scheduling conflicts, including — notably — a visit from Russian President Vladimir Putin to New Delhi in December 2021.

The agenda for discussion is broad, reflecting the breadth of the “Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership” between the two countries. The two sides will discuss defence, science and technology (particularly emerging technology), climate and public health (particularly cooperation on managing the COVID-19 pandemic), fortifying and building supply chains, as well as people to people ties, as per the readouts of the talks from the U.S. State and Defense Departments.

India and the U.S. will continue their “close consultations on the consequences of President Putin’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating the impact by addressing energy and food prices”, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. India has raised the issue of commodity price impacts of the war, including at the United Nations. It has also purchased oil at a discounted price from Moscow — a move that has ruffled feathers in the Biden administration. The U.S. has said it is willing to help provide alternatives to India’s sourcing of oil from Moscow — which accounts for 1–2% of its energy imports. This is likely to feature in the week’s discussions.

American President’s Deputy National Security Advisor, Daleep Singh, visited New Delhi in the last week of March to discourage New Delhi from violating U.S. sanctions. India has pushed back against the notion that U.S. sanctions are applicable to third party countries but has also had to work with the fact that the U.S. banking and financial system still underpins much of the global financial system. Discussions around the impact of sanctions and India’s position in the Russia–Ukraine conflict will be part of Monday’s discussions.