Washington, 1 February 2023 (GNP): The US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and the Indian National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, met in Washington to launch the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).
This forum was decided by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, and President Joe Biden, last year when they met in Tokyo at the Quad conference.
This launching of the initiative is being much lauded by the two sides.
This is the realization of our dreams into reality for a bright, prosperous and cooperative future for both India and the US, what was reported by the media of the two countries. The initiative would encompass commercial, scientific and strategic approaches and their transformation into emerging advanced technology for both countries.
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During the meeting, the two national security advisors decided to prepare the ground for the initiatives to be taken under iCET, and global and regional developments and scenarios were also discussed between them.
Establishing bridges of innovation through hackathons, expos and pitch sessions would be carried out through these initiatives. The special focus would be the new emerging sciences and technologies that would provide ample space for both countries to develop and get economic leverage through them.
For enhancing this engagement, an Implementation Arrangement for a Research Agency Partnership between the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Indian Science agencies was also signed.
Later, the US-India Business Council (USIBC), a sub-entity of the US Chamber of Commerce, held a joint meeting in the presence of national security advisors of the two countries. One of the points of this USIBC joint meeting was to find alternative ways for the efficient supply of semiconductors and microchips without any Chinese scientific or technological dependency.
It is interesting to note that the US Under Secretary, Victoria Nuland is also on an official visit to New Delhi where she met with Indian officials to chart out a framework for the upcoming visit of the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken in March.