The Israel-Hamas Conflict and the bombardment of Gaza could pause the progress on the India-US trade and connectivity initiatives, including the IMEEC (India-Middle East-Europe Corridor) and the I2U2 (India-Israel-USA-UAE), the US ambassador to India, Eric Garcetti said, but the ideas can stand the test of time.
Garcetti on Potential Projects
“I do think that there is a fundamental logic to the IMEEC and the I2U2 agreements, and these ideas will stand the test of time. But there is no question that this conflict will give a pause to them,” Garcetti said in response to the question from a media agency on the impact of the repercussions from the Israel-Hamas Conflict that has seen thousands killed in the past two weeks.
“The region is not capable, I would argue the world is not capable of dreaming and building something new, especially when it comes to an ongoing war, and that is the reality of the conflict,” he said, speaking at a round-table conference organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) on November 20, 2023.
On Artificial Intelligence
Speaking about the India-US 2+2 Dialogue held on November 10, 2023, Ambassador Garcetti said that the bilateral cooperation is growing in various domains. In particular, both countries must develop cooperation and collaboration in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), highlighting the dangers that have been posed by both US President Joe Biden and PM Narendra Modi at different events last week.
“If you do not get out in front of AI, the consequences, even if there is a small percentage likelihood of something catastrophic happening, such as artificial intelligence in biotech and warfare, could be sooner than we believe,” Garcetti warned, adding on a lighter note that the new dialogue could even be named the America-India Artificial Intelligence Agreement Initiative (AIAIAI).
QUAD Summit and 2+2 Dialogue
“ We have made important steps towards the strengthening of our major defence partnership, which continues to grow, increasing the acceleration that we have seen through the initiatives like the roadmap US-India in Industrial Cooperation and Defence, Garcetti said, briefing journalists, academics, and analysts at the event about the 2+2 Dialogue with the US.
The Secretary of State for the US, Antony Blinken, and the US Defence Secretary visited Delhi and met the MEA (Minister of External Affairs) Subramaniam Jaishankar and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month. He also said that while the two sides had made no concrete proposal, India should initiate a dialogue on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Joe Biden as Chief Guest
However, the Ambassador was non-committal about the appearance of Joe Biden appearance at the virtual G20 Summit to be hosted by PM Narendra Modi in November 2022, as well as whether he would accept the invitation to be the chief guest of India’s upcoming Republic Day 2024 and also attend the QUAD Summit the same month.
“We are doing our best and everything we can to ensure, especially with the two elections in both countries, India and the US, that the QUAD Summit is scheduled,” Garcetti said, also pointing to the Japanese Prime Minister’s parliamentary obligations and the Australian National Day that also falls on the Republic Day of India, “Nobody should mistake the President’s high regard for one of the most consequential relationships in the world, referring to the US-India relations.
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