India and the US on Friday held wide-ranging talks to expand their global strategic partnership by shoring up engagement in areas of defence production, critical minerals and high-technology besides focusing on the situation arising out of the Israel-Hamas conflict and China’s military muscle-flexing in the Indo-Pacific.

The India-US ‘2+2’ foreign and defence ministerial dialogue took place amid growing geopolitical turmoil, largely triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war, the escalating conflict between Hamas and Israel in West Asia.

The American delegation at the ‘2+2’ ministerial dialogue was led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh headed the Indian side.