WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The United States and India held their second "2+2 Ministerial Dialogue" at the State Department in Washington on Wednesday amid a disagreement over India's decision to purchase Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.
Afghanistan and Iran were also among the topics of the talks between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.
Washington and New Delhi have been seeking closer ties in the past couple of years while disagreements remain. Pentagon officials reportedly tried to talk India out of purchasing S-400 missile defense system from Russia with both an incentive and a threat of sanctions.
Russian officials said last month that India had already paid 800 million U.S. dollars for five S-400 missile systems.
