External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne & discussed cross-border terrorism

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne on Friday. The EAM said he had discussions with his Canadian counterpart on matters of cross-border terrorism and apprised Champagne of developments in Jammu & Kashmir. Jaishankar also met with Canadian trade minister Mary Ng and discussed avenues to expand bilateral trade and investment.

Canada visit after successful 2+2 dialogue with US

The visit to Canada by EAM Jaishankar comes two days after he and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh met their US counterparts, Defence Secretary Mark T Esper and Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo in Washington for the second annual India-US 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue. At the Dialogue, both sides positively appraised the growing partnership between India and the United States and noted that important milestones had been achieved since the inaugural 2+2 dialogue in New Delhi in 2018.

Both sides also reiterated their commitment to advancing a free, open, inclusive, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, according to a detailed statement. Both sides also committed to further deepen military-to-military cooperation, including between the Indian Navy and the US Navy Fleets under US Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command, and Africa Command and intend to expand similar cooperation between their respective Armies and Air Forces. A number of other initiatives to enhance military-to-military cooperation were also agreed upon, the statement said.