Sushma Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman hold meeting with US counterparts ahead of '2+2' talks

<strong>New Delhi:</strong> External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held separate meetings on Thursday with US Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis respectively. This came ahead of the inaugural two-plus-two dialogue. A number of key bilateral issues were to be discussed during the meetings, official sources said. Both Pompeo and Mattis arrived here Wednesday for the inaugural Indo-US two-plus-two talks which were finalised during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington last year. Official Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs Raveesh Kumar took to Twitter and wrote, "1+1 before 2+2! EAM @SushmaSwaraj had a productive meeting with United States Secretary of State @SecPompeo. Two sides took stock of impressive strides in our bilateral relationship and discussed steps to take our relationship to an even higher trajectory." <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">1+1 before 2+2! EAM <a href="https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SushmaSwaraj</a> had a productive meeting with United States Secretary of State <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecPompeo</a>. Two sides took stock of impressive strides in our bilateral relationship and discussed steps to take our relationship to an even higher trajectory. <a href="https://t.co/Z3UL5wwYjC">pic.twitter.com/Z3UL5wwYjC</a></p> — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/MEAIndia/status/1037575594630934528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote> In a special gesture, Swaraj received Secretary Pompeo at the airport here yesterday while Sitharaman welcomed Secretary Mattis, reflecting the importance India attaches to their visit here. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Elevating and strengthening our strategic partnership! EAM <a href="https://twitter.com/SushmaSwaraj?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SushmaSwaraj</a> welcomed US Secretary of State <a href="https://twitter.com/SecPompeo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecPompeo</a> ahead of bilateral talks. <a href="https://t.co/93zrT2tdAD">pic.twitter.com/93zrT2tdAD</a></p> — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/MEAIndia/status/1037570293202608128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2018</a></blockquote> The officials said the focus of the two-plus-two talks will be to deepen global strategic partnership between the two countries and resolve differences over India's defence engagement with Russia and crude oil import from Iran. (With inputs from PTI)

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