India and the US on Monday held their first Maritime Security Dialogue in New Delhi. It focused on stepping up cooperation in the challenging sector with Washington rebalancing its military assets in Asia Pacific. Officials from both countries met at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan for the US-India Maritime Security Dialogue. The Indian side was represented by Joint Secretary in charge of Planning and International Cooperation in the Defence Ministry, Shambhu Kumaran and Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary, Americas (AMS) Munu Mahawar. 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, US Seventh Fleet, were the officials from the American side. The discussion focused on strategic maritime security issues like Asia-Pacific maritime challenges, naval cooperation, and multilateral engagement.