2+2 Dialougue (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 – R)

Context: India and the UK recently explored cooperation in trade, investment, defense, critical technologies, and civil aviation during their inaugural 2+2 foreign affairs and defense dialogue in New Delhi.

Highlights of Dialogue

• About: The 2+2 dialogue is a format of meeting of the foreign and defence ministers of India and its allies on strategic and security issues.
• Trade and Investment: Both nations recently explored ways to strengthen their economic ties, with a special focus on trade and investment.
• Defense: The dialogue recently included significant discussions on defense cooperation, underlining the strategic importance of this partnership.
• Critical Technologies: The two countries recently explored the possibility of collaborating on critical and emerging technologies, recognizing the role of innovation in shaping the future.
• Civil Aviation: Enhancing cooperation in civil aviation recently highlighted the importance of connectivity in promoting economic and cultural exchanges.
• Health: Given the global health challenges, cooperation in the health sector was recently deemed of utmost importance.
• Energy: The dialogue also recently featured discussions on energy collaboration, emphasizing the need for sustainable and clean energy solutions.

India’s 2+2 dialogue: India has a 2+2 dialogue, either at the level of senior officials or ministers, with close strategic partners such as the US, Japan, Australia and Russia. The dialogue between India and the UK featured senior defence and foreign policy officials of the two sides.