Manila, July 22 -- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks in Manila on Wednesday, focusing on recent developments in West Asia and the Indo-Pacific, while also reviewing progress on key defence and agreeing on the urgency of finalising an interim bilateral trade deal.

According to a US State Department office readout attributed to Spokesperson Tommy Pigott, the two leaders discussed advancing bilateral commitments made during talks between US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

"The Secretary and Minister Jaishankar discussed recent developments in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific," the readout said.

The discussions also centred on defence cooperation, ...