India and the United States of America must remain at the forefront of developing critical technologies as part of a larger strategic interest, National Security Advisor of India, Ajit Doval said on June 18, 2024, in the presence of his American counterpart Jake Sullivan.
Doval’s comments came at a day after he and Sullivan unveiled a raft of transformative initiatives to deepen Indo-US cooperation in areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), semiconductor, critical minerals advanced telecommunication along with defence space. “The US and India have got to remain at the forefront of the technology in case we need to protect and defend our values system and it is part of the larger strategic interests,” Doval said.
The National Security Advisor (NSA) was addressing the iCET (India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology) industry roundtable hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII). The iCET was launched by PM Narendra Modi and the US President Joe Biden in May 2022 with an aim to forge greater collaboration between India and the US in areas of critical technologies.
In his remarks, Doval highlighted the role of industry in technology and the progress in iCET since its inception according to a CII statement “iCET has achieved more than we could imagine,” Doval said highlighting the progress made across the defence innovation roadmap and startups and emphasised the importance of the semiconductor industry.
In his address, Sullivan noted three important buckets for technology partnerships, the first being innovation, the second being production and third being deployment. The top Biden administrative official highlighted the importance of innovation and emphasised the need for government support for the private sector. There exists bipartisan support for Indian industry in the US, he said adding that building the ecosystem and supply chain is the key to production.
Sullivan said that the core of the iCET is about the idea of India and US being able to support each other and to encourage greater collaboration in the technology ecosystem, jointly innovate and find solutions to these challenges. Both the NSA assured the industry that they welcomed industry highlighting specific issues and due diligence will be done to resolve any barriers which holdback deeper and closer India-US ties.
The initiative for the iCET represents a landmark agreement between the two countries on emerging technologies such as AI, semiconductors among others to help enable deeper engagement between the two nations. Representatives from industries spoke about their experiences of collaboration and the ways and means by which they planned to take India-US collaboration further through government facilitation.
Sullivan visited New Delhi from June 17 to 18, in the first trip to India by a senior Biden administration official after the Modi government came to power for the third term, The US National Security Advisor was accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising senior US government officials and industry leaders. Sullivan’s visit to India came three days after PM Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden had brief conversation on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Italy’s Apulia region.
