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The State Department has launched an investigation into the whereabouts of the liquor, Xinhua news agency quoted The New York Times report as saying.

The situation in eastern Ladakh and China's overall aggressive behaviour including in the Indo-Pacific region are likely to figure in the talks, according to sources.

In a briefing on Friday, a State Department official said that India-US 2+2 ministerial dialogue will focus on four themes -- regional security cooperation, defence information sharing, military-to-military interactions and defence trade.

China is trying to use the festering border dispute as a pretext to meddle in India’s affairs and mislead the international community

The spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian, told the media that Beijing opposes India building infrastructure in the region

India is expanding bilateral cooperation with Japan, the US and Australia in the Indo-Pacific region.

The talks come weeks ahead of the US presidential election and amid tensions between the US and China over the virus, trade, technology, Hong Kong, Taiwan and human rights.

This grouping is seen as a response to China's growing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.