Ajit Doval stresses India-US collaboration on critical technologies

India and the US have to remain at the forefront of technology to protect and defend the value systems as part of a larger strategic interest, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said on Tuesday addressing the initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) industry CEO roundtable, which was also attended by his US counterpart, Jake Sullivan.

Both NSAs assured the industry that due diligence would be done to resolve any barriers which hold back deeper India- US ties.

“iCET has achieved more than we could imagine,” Doval said, highlighting the progress made across the defence innovation road map and start-ups, while particularly emphasising the importance of the semiconductor industry.

India and the US have to remain at the forefront of technology to protect and defend the value systems as part of a larger strategic interest, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval said on Tuesday addressing the initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) industry CEO roundtable, which was also attended by his US counterpart, Jake Sullivan.

Both NSAs assured the industry that due diligence would be done to resolve any barriers which hold back deeper India- US ties.

“iCET has achieved more than we could imagine,” Doval said, highlighting the progress made across the defence innovation road map and start-ups, while particularly emphasising the importance of the semiconductor industry.

The roundtable was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). “Both NSAs assured the industry that they welcome industry communications highlighting specific issues and due diligence will be done to resolve any barriers which hold back deeper and closer India-US ties,” the CII said in a statement.

“Both sides discussed the way forward to further facilitate mutual collaboration and address outstanding barriers in trade, technology, and industrial cooperation,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

“The industry enlightened the NSAs on their experiences thus far in terms of their bilateral collaboration, their vision on how to take the collaboration forward, and specific areas where government facilitation can play a key role in addressing particular barriers to unshackle further collaboration,” the Ministry added.

At the roundtable, it has been learnt that both sides put forward their requirements and expectations from each other in terms of the policy framework to take forward cooperation in defence and high-end technologies.

The US side pressed for strengthening of India’s export controls as well the ease of doing business, according to sources present at the roundtable. The US is also looking for India to speed up the two mega deals in the pipeline — the purchase of 31 MQ-9B unmanned aerial vehicles and local licence manufacture of GE-414 jet engines. Both deals are in the advanced stages but are yet to be cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security. In turn, the Indian side pressed for liberalisation of licensing requirements for India for more high-tech areas as well as increased funding for research and development, officials said.

Addressing the roundtable, Sullivan noted three important aspects of technology partnerships — innovation, production, and deployment, according to the CII. He highlighted the importance of innovation and emphasised the need for government support for the private sector. He remarked that “there exists bipartisan support for Indian industry in the US,” while stressing that building the ecosystem and supply chain manufacturing was key to production.

Sullivan said the core of the iCET was about the idea of India and the US being able to support each other, to encourage greater collaboration in the technology ecosystem, jointly innovate, and find solutions to challenges.

The iCET was launched in January 2023 for cooperation in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotech, space, defence innovation, and critical materials.

CII Director-General Chandrajit Banerjee said the industry body would be sending a series of delegations to the US starting this month and requested for reciprocal delegations from the US to India. The Hindu