NEW DELHI -- Today, U.S. and Indian officials met at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan for the first U.S.-India Maritime Security Dialogue. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Shear, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Manpreet Anand, and Vice Admiral Aucoin, Commander, U.S. Seventh Fleet, met with their Indian counterparts from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Defense to discuss strategic maritime security issues. Among the issues discussed were Asia-Pacific maritime challenges, naval cooperation, and multilateral engagement.

U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma participated and noted that “the creation of this dialogue was agreed to during Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter’s recent visit to India and is a further sign of the growing relations between our two countries.”