India, Australia hold first '2+2' talks to strengthen strategic ties

India on Saturday initiated ‘2+2’ high-level talks with Australia, aiming to promote strategic cooperation between the two nations. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held the inaugural session with their Australian counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton. Notably, India has such a framework for talks with a very few countries including the US and Japan.