The virtual meeting comes in the midst of some disquiet in Washington over India's position on the Ukraine crisis as well as its decision to procure discounted Russian oil.
The move comes soon after US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris directed towards mobilisation of American resources to assist India to tackle the unprecedented health crisis in the wake of the deadly second wave of coronavirus.
The Biden administration has reaffirmed its commitment to support India's permanent membership in a reformed UN Security Council and New Delhi's entry to the Nuclear Suppliers' Group.
Defence is at the heart of the India-United relationship, so it is interesting that General Lloyd Austin, the US secretary for defense, was not among the officials present when Joe Biden met Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi for their first meeting since Biden became president in January.
The United States, Canada and the United Nations have condemned the Iranian air attack on Israel, with President Joe Biden reaffirming America's 'ironclad commitment' to the Jewish nation and vowing to convene a meeting of the G-7 leaders on Sunday to develop a coordinated response to the brazen assault.
Rejecting Biden's comments, Pakistan foreign minister Bilawal at a press conference here said that Pakistan was following the global standards.
China might one day be able to launch a surprise nuclear attack on the United States, the second highest-ranking American military officer has warned as he shed new details of Beijing's hypersonic weapons test in July, which sent a missile around the world at more than five times the speed of sound.
During a regular press conference on Thursday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that the unmanned Chinese civilian airship into US airspace is entirely caused by 'force majeure'.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who was on a visit to the US last month, said that America's relationship with Pakistan has "not served" either of the two countries and raised questions on the Biden administration's approval of a USD 450-million sustenance package for the F-16 fleet.
The Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a tense border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 5, 2020, when a violent clash between the two sides erupted in the Pangong lake area.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday directed that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the ships in her strike group will remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.
"I have not seen anything to corroborate that report," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters at a news conference on Thursday when asked about the reported allegations by former Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani that Pakistan had sent between 10,000 to 15,000 of its men along with the Taliban to capture Kabul and Afghanistan.
That does not mean it cannot and will not happen, General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Friday.
The last meeting of the 2+2 was held in New Delhi and the next meeting is to be hosted by the US in Washington, DC.
The official confirmed that these are the first four Americans that "we've facilitated in this manner" since the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Mohammad Bagheri, told Press TV that the Nevatim air base, the Netzarim military facility and the Tel Nof intelligence unit, were hit in the Tuesday night attack dubbed 'Operation True Promise II'.
United States President Joe Biden is not travelling to India next month to grace the Republic Day celebrations as the Chief Guest, and New Delhi is looking at holding the next Quad summit later next year instead of its earlier plan to host it in January, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The phone conversation between Jaishankar and Blinken came days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a two-day visit to India.
Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin were in Delhi for the fifth edition of the '2+2' dialogue.
The fall of the Assad regime that brutalised, tortured and killed thousands of innocent Syrians over the past half a century is a historic opportunity for the people of the country, outgoing United States President Joe Biden said on Sunday.
New Delhi has reached out to Moscow while waiting for a new president in Washington. New Delhi knows well that in international relations, there are no permanent friends or foes, only permanent national interests, points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
The India-US joint statement after the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages.
The defence secretary was responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a friend of India in the Congress who, of late, has been critical of India deciding to take an independent position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday said that the Canadian allegations with regard to the death of a Khalistani separatist was discussed during his meeting with the Secretary of State Tony Blinken a day earlier and noted that the two delegations came out better informed after the meeting.
In Amman, Biden will meet with King Abdullah of Jordan, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Two of Xi Jinping's chosen officials have disappeared from view, an indication of turmoil in Xi's government, months after he installed a collection of loyalist leaders in his cabinet, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
China said on Monday that no 'exclusive cliques' should be formed as it accused some countries of trying to 'drive a wedge' among regional nations citing the 'China threat' and asserted that they will 'end up nowhere'.
Biden, in his call with Netanyahu, updated him on US military support and reiterated his warning against anyone seeking to expand the conflict, according to a readout of the call.
The Democrats have elected a set of state representatives who will act as an electoral panel. These representatives will have to pick someone else. This could be Vice President Kamala Harris, who is widely seen as a top contender, but is not popular, points out Aakar Patel.
In the meeting, Ngodup Dongchung, an official in the Tibetan government-in-exile and representative of the Dalai Lama, thanked Blinken for the continued support by the US to the Tibetan movement.
The demand for action by Pakistan was made through a joint statement issued after the 2+2 ministerial attended by the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
President Joe Biden and other top US leaders had been warning for days that America would strike back at the militias, and they made it clear it wouldn't be just one hit but a "tiered response" over time.
Biden's remarks could be seen as a setback to the Shehbaz Sharif government's bid to improve ties with the US.
United States President Joe Biden and his top advisors have warned Israel that it will become increasingly difficult for it to pursue its military goals in Gaza as global outcry intensifies about the scale of humanitarian suffering in the crisis-stricken region, CNN reported.
India is procuring the long-endurance 'hunter-killer' drones to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the Line of Actual Control with China.
The defence ministry on Thursday accorded its approval to procure 30 MQ-9B Predator drones from the US to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the frontier with China, people familiar with the development said.
India and the US agreed to continue their cooperation in the areas of defence, space and clean energy as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Secretary of State Antony Blinken here, amid a simmering diplomatic row between India and Canada over the killing of a Khalistani separatist.
The 2+2 was attended by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and their Indian counterparts S Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh respectively.
The scaling up of the India-US strategic partnership to the level of non-NATO ally with defence deals, sharing and transfer of defence technology, interoperability, joint collaboration and joint production of defence equipment has exacerbated Moscow's anxiety, notes Rup Narayan Das.
Regional States will be worried that the US's nascent engagement with the Taliban behind the fig leaf of humanitarian aid enables the return of US intelligence personnel to Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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