India And Japan To Hold Maiden 2+2 Level Dialogue Ahead Of Modi-Abe Annual Summit This Year

India and Japan are would hold their first ever 2+2 (Foreign and Defence Minister) level dialogue ahead of the annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, reports Economic Times.

According to the report, this was decided during the telephonic conversation between the newly appointed External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono. India also has a 2+2 mechanism with the United States.

Kono congratulated Jaishankar, who has very close ties with Japan, for his appointment. Jaishankar is credit with putting in place the bilateral economic pact between Delhi and Tokyo.

According to a statement issued by the Japanese foreign ministry, Kono expressed willingness in realising a free and open Indo-Pacific and appraised the role of India as a global power. Kono invited Jaishankar to arrive earlier to the G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting, which is scheduled to be held later this year in November in Japan, to discuss wide-ranging issues.

Jaishankar stated that, with Kono, he hopes to expand the scope and cooperation between both the countries which have a special relationship.5