Harjit Sajjan will be in Washington Monday to meet with U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis

Canada's Minister of Defence HarjitSajjanwill travel to Washington, D.C., on Monday to meet with new U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis.

Sajjan will have a formal meeting followed by a working dinner in which the pair are set to discuss a number of issues including the Noradpartnership, the two countries' commitment to NATO and the mission to defeat ISIS, says a statement released by the Department of National Defence.

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The pair already spoke on the phone on Jan. 23, when Mattis made Sajjanthe first defence counterpart he reached out to after being confirmed in his new post on Jan. 20.

Both men have served in the military.Mattishas a four-decade career of service that began with enlistingin the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve when he was 18.

According to his U.S. Department of Defence biography, Mattis hasheld a number of high-profile leadership positions in the military, includingcommandingU.S. Joint Forces Command, NATO's Supreme Allied Command for Transformation, and U.S. Central Command.

Sajjanwas formerly a detective for the Vancouver police gang crime unit anda combat veteran in the Forces. Heserved one tour in Bosniaand was deployed three timesto Afghanistan.

He wasthe first Sikh to command a Canadian army reserve regiment the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own).