PM Narendra Modi shakes hand with US President Donald Trump

NEW DELHI: India and the US are scheduling the first meeting of the newly established "2+2" format, of the defence and foreign ministers from each side. This new high-level mechanism will be in addition to the strategic and commercial dialogue that is an annual feature between the two countries.

The new high-level dialogue mechanism was confirmed during a conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Independence Day. A readout of the conversation said, "The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations."

During the Obama years, the India-US dialogue mechanism included the secretaries of state and commerce, which was then the focus of the relationship. But commerce and trade have always been the weak links of the relationship, while defence and strategic affairs have dominated the bilateral landscape. Officials said the US-India dialogue mechanism was only following the format of US talks with Japan, China and even Australia.

After the Malabar exercises in July and the first shipment of oil from the US to India, the two sides are now preparing for the three-day Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Hyderabad, likely to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with US President Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump leading the US delegation.

With a long list of CEOs quitting Trump's advisory councils , there is a question about whether some of these companies, which have a big presence in India, would be part of the US delegation. Some CEOs have confirmed that they would not let their decision to quit Trump's councils come in the way.

"Look forward to Ivanka Trump's presence at GES 2017 Hyderabad as the leader of the US delegation," Modi had said in a tweet last week. He said the event was aimed at bringing together entrepreneurs of the two countries. "Honoured to lead the US delegation to GES2017 in India and meet with Prime Minister Modi and passionate entrepreneurs from around the globe!" Ivanka had tweeted.

The theme of the summit is 'Women F irst, Prosperity for All', highlighting the critical role women play in fostering global growth and prosperity. The focus sectors of the GES include energy and infrastructure; healthcare and life sciences; financial technology in digital economy; media and entrepreneurship and possibly, agricultural entrepreneurship.

Other than the US, the GES has been held earlier in Morocco, Kenya, the UAE, Malaysia and Turkey. This is the first time that the event is being held in India.

