India, US hold first ever bilateral dialogue on UN, multilateral issues

Washington: India and the US have held their first ever bilateral dialogue on the UN and multilateral issues in the spirit of the “Delhi Declaration of Friendship” that strengthens and expands the two countries’ relationship. [caption id=“attachment_2108023” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. IBNLive[/caption] “Today’s discussions focused on international peace and security, peacekeeping operations, counter-piracy, the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the UN Human Rights Council, and other matters of mutual interest,” the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday. “This dialogue was held in the spirit of the Delhi Declaration of Friendship in which the United States and India vowed to hold regular consultations in multilateral forums,” it said. While the US was led by Assistant Secretary of State for International Organisation Affairs Sheba Crocker, Indian delegation was led by Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary Vikas Swarup. This India-US Dialogue on United Nations and multilateral issues was an opportunity for the two nations to discuss a wide range of important issues, said the statement. As stated in the US-India Joint Statement issued during President Barack Obama’s visit to India last month, both nations have pledged to continue to enhance cooperation across all areas of human endeavour to better the lives of their citizens and those of the global community. Last month, India and the US agreed to elevate their long-standing strategic partnership, with a Declaration of Friendship that strengthens and expands the relationship between the two countries. PTI