External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday co-chaired fifth Indo-US Strategic Dialogue during which the two sides discussed “transformative initiatives” in key areas of security and energy.

The two leaders held nearly an hour-long restricted meeting before they were joined by their delegations comprising senior representatives from various ministries including energy and trade.

Ahead of the Dialogue, Mr. Kerry along with Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker met Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.

The U.S. Secretary of State’s visit is first high-level interaction at the political level after the new government came to power.

The visit two months ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to the US is aimed at instilling some vigour in bilateral ties, which appeared to have lost momentum in the final years of the UPA regime.