National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his US counterpart Jake Sullivan co-chaired the second meeting of the US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies in New Delhi on Monday. They committed to take concrete action in the coming months to address long-standing barriers to bilateral strategic trade, technology, and industrial cooperation, including in the commercial and civil space sector, according to a joint fact sheet shared by the Indian government.

During the meeting, Doval and Sullivan set forth a vision for the next phase of strategic technology collaboration, with focus on co-production, co-development and R&D opportunities to stay at the forefront of innovation. The two sides also stressed enhanced coordination with like-minded nations to deliver secure, reliable and cost competitive technology solutions for the Indian and American people and their partners around the world.

The two NSAs resolved to support enhanced collaboration across the two governments, industry and academia, with a particular focus on bridging the innovation ecosystems, reaching new heights in civilian and defence space technology and securing semiconductor supply chains among others.

A major focus of the meeting was on bridging the innovation ecosystems of the two countries. Over $90 million in funding was announced for the India-US Global Challenges Institute to support joint research in semiconductors, sustainable agriculture, clean energy and health equity. Nealy $5 million in joint funding was announced for research projects in next generation telecommunications, autonomous vehicles and machine learning.

In space technology, the partnership achieved new milestones, including securing a carrier for the first joint NASA-ISRO astronaut mission to the International Space Station. The completion of the Strategic Framework for Human Spaceflight Cooperation was another highlight, enabling ISRO astronauts’ training at NASA. Discussions on India’s acquisition of MQ-9B platforms and co-production of land warfare systems progressed, along with other initiatives outlined in the India-US Roadmap for Defence Industrial Cooperation.

Telecommunications collaboration saw the finalization of the India-US Open RAN Acceleration Roadmap and ongoing 5G and 6G R&D collaborations. Initiatives by USAID and Qualcomm to deploy Open RAN technology in India were notable steps towards building robust and secure telecommunication networks.

Doval and Sullivan reiterated their commitment to overcoming barriers to bilateral trade, technology, and industrial cooperation. They also convened an industry roundtable with CEOs and thought leaders to mobilise private sector investment in strategic technology sectors including space, semiconductors, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, quantum, biotechnology, and clean energy.

The document released after the meeting stressed that the work continues to be anchored in a shared commitment to ensuring that technology is designed, developed and deployed in a manner consistent with shared democratic values and respect for universal human rights, as well as a recognition that the future security and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific will hinge on the strength of the US-India partnership.

During the second iCET meeting, NSA Sullivan and NSA Doval set the vision for the next chapter of strategic technology partnership between both countries. They underscored a shared commitment to orienting cooperation around breakthrough achievements in priority critical and emerging technology areas, by focusing collective efforts on co-production, co developments and research and development (R&D) opportunities to ensure that the two stay at the leading edge of innovation and enhancing coordination with like-minded nations to deliver secure, reliable and cost-competitive technology solutions for the American and Indian people and partners around the world. Towards the end, the two sides welcomed the inaugural meeting of the US-India-ROK Trilateral Technology Dialogue held in Seoul in March, as well as ongoing cooperation with Australia and Japan through the Quad framework.

The two sides underscored the vital importance of adapting technology protection toolkits and resolved to prevent the leakage of sensitive and dual-use technologies to countries of concern. They also committed to take concrete action in the coming months to address long-standing barriers to bilateral strategic trade, technology and industrial cooperation, including in the commercial and space sector. They noted continued progress under the Strategic Trade Dialogue, which convened last June in Washington DC, as well as through an iCET intersessional review meeting held in New Delhi by Deputy National Security Advisors from both sides in December 2023 to support these measures. They emphasized the need for continued efforts, particularly under the Strategic Trade Dialogue, to address outstanding barriers to technology collaboration.
In addition to the iCET meeting, NSA Sullivan and NSA Doval convened an industry roudtable that brought together CEOs and thought leaders from both countries as the United States and India mobilise private sector investment and partnerships across strategic technology sectors.
The two National Security Advisors resolved to support enhanced collaboration across the two governments, industry, and academia with a particular focus on the following areas:

1. Bridging Innovation Ecosystems

• Unlocking a combined $90+ million in US and Indian government funding over the next five years for the US-India Global Challenges Institute that will forge high-impact university and research partnerships between US and Indian institutions in the areas of semiconductor technology and manufacturing, sustainable agriculture and food security, clean energy, health equity and pandemic preparedness and other critical and emerging technologies
• Announcing the selection of funding awards between the National Science Foundation and the Indian Department of Science and Technology totaling nearly $5 million to support joint US-India research projects in areas such as next generation telecommunications, connected and autonomous vehicles, and machine learning
• Noting the launch of the inaugural ‘Innovation Handshake’ between the US Department of Commerce and the Indian Ministry of Commerce in November 2023 to address regulatory barriers for startups entering the US and Indian markets, and celebrating the second Innovation Handshake event in India in March 2024, which featured 14 Indian startups an 12 American industry representatives in clean energy technology sectors.
• Celebrating the US Department of Commerce’s Global Diversity Export Initiative trade mission to Bengaluru, Manipal, Mangalore, Kochi and Coimbatore in February 2024 to deepen STEM partnerships between institutions at the leading edge of innovation in technology areas such as AI, quantum, data sciences, space and financial technologies

2. Reaching New Heights in Civilian and Defence Space Technology Cooperation

• Celebrating the conclusion of a Strategic Framework for Human Spacelift Cooperation to deepen interoperability in space and work towards commencing advanced training for ISRO astronauts at the NASA Johnson Space Center
• Preparing for the launch of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, a jointly developed satellite that will map the entirety of the Earth’s surface twice every day 12 days as the US and India work together to combat climate change and other global challenges
• Launching a new partnership between the US Space force and Indian startups, including on advancing space situational awareness, data fusion technologies, and infra-red sensor semiconductor manufacturing
• Welcoming India’s observation of the US Space Command’s Global Sentinel Exercise at Vandenburg Space Force Base in February and in return as a participant in the exercise in 2025
• Strengthening defence space cooperation through the second Advanced Domains Defence Dialogue held at the pentagon in May 2024, which featured a US-India space table top exercise and included bilateral expert exchanges on emerging domains including artificial intelligence
• Exploring opportunities for India’s participation in the Lunar Gateway Program, as well as joint avenues for collaboration in other space technologies

3. Deepening Defence Innovation and Industrial Cooperation

• Welcoming the discussions on India’s planned acquisition of the MQ-9B platforms, the possible co-production of land warfare systems, and progress on other co-production initiatives outlined in the U.S.-India Roadmap for Defense Industrial Cooperation
• Celebrating the second edition of the India-U.S. Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Summit which took place in February this year and during which the two sides announced an INDUS-X Investor Summit that will take place in Silicon Valley in September 2024; the awarding of up to $1.2 million in seed funding to 10 U.S. and Indian companies under Joint IMPACT 1.0 Challenges; the intent to launch two challenges focused on space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) under IMPACT 2.0; and the launch of an INDUSWERX Testing Consortium steered by industry, academia and non-profit organizations across the United States and India to promote access to testing and certification facilities
• Deepening cooperation between the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit and India’s Innovations for Defense Excellence (iDEX) to accelerate the joint adoption of cutting-edge commercial technologies for military solutions and capability enhancement of both defense ecosystems, including through a Memorandum of Understanding
• Noting progress in negotiations between GE Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the co-production of GE F414-INS6 engines to power India’s future fighter fleet
• Expanding defense industrial partnerships, such as the launch of an AI Multi-Doman Situational Awareness product jointly developed by General Atomics and 114ai to support joint all domain command and control

4. Pursuing Advanced Telecommunications Opportunities

• Noting the recent finalization of the U.S.-India Open RAN Acceleration Roadmap, ongoing 5G and 6G R&D Task Force collaboration, and continuing efforts between U.S. and Indian industry to work toward large-scale Open RAN deployments in India and the United States;
• Building partnerships to deploy high-quality, cost-effective Open RAN technology at scale, including through a $5 million USAID Edge Fund grant to Qualcomm and Mavenir to test its ORAN stack in India in partnership with Bharti Airtel, with Qualcomm contributing an additional $9.4 million to the project;
• Promoting Open RAN workforce development opportunities in India through USAID’s Emerging Technologies in the Indo-Pacific program, an 18-month, $410,000 activity to integrate Open RAN-related educational content into Indian technical training programs and foster collaboration between Indian institutions and the Asia Open RAN Academy in the Philippines;
• Cooperating on secure and trusted telecommunications products and components and product-level security;
• Strengthening cooperation in 6G technologies through working groups that would potentially focus on evolving 6G related technologies like network sensing, intelligent reflecting surface, a human-centric cognition-based wireless access framework, and other priority areas;
• Forging public-private cooperation between vendors and operators of the two countries led by India’s Bharat 6G Alliance and the U.S. Next G Alliance for Open RAN field trails and roll-outs in both the countries, with U.S. funding support.

5. Combining Capabilities in Biotechnology and Manufacturing

• Celebrating the launch of a Track 1.5 Biopharmaceutical Supply Chain Consortium- the Bio-5 on June 5 with key industry and government stakeholders from the United States, India, the ROK, Japan and the European Commission to enhance resilience in supply chains for active pharmaceutical ingredients, key starting materials and foster high-impact R&D collaboration.
• Developing a joint Strategic Framework for building biopharmaceutical supply chain optimisation to strengthen global supply chains and reduce dependencies on single-source suppliers in support of Bio-5, led by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of State on the US side, and the Departments of Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the Indian side
• Welcoming the launch of a “Bio-X” initiative that would promote biotechnology cooperation by leveraging the synergies between domestic programs and enhancing the competitiveness of the biotechnology industries in both countries, including in areas such as molecular communication and the Internet of Bio-Nano Things

6. Securing Semiconductor Supply Chains

• Launching a new strategic semiconductor partnership between General Atomics and 3rdiTech to co-develop semiconductor design and manufacturing for precision-guided ammunition and other national security-focused electronics platforms
• Celebrating the conclusion of a joint Semiconductor Readiness Assessment through a partnership between the US Semiconductor Industry Association and the India Electronics Semiconductor Association, which identifies near term industry opportunities and facilitates longer-term strategic development of complementary semiconductor ecosystems
• Expanding engagement with the US and Indian investors in the semiconductor industry in India, to continue building India’s robust semiconductor and information communication technology ecosystem

Since the launch of the iCET both countries have shown progress in achieving what they set out to achieve through this initiative. For this initiative to understand its success, different parts of the government in both countries is needed. These must ensure togetherness with different parts of the private sector, academia, and distinctive brain trusts to deliver a range of functional and beyond-the-horizon outcomes. By design, there is no singular outcome for the iCET. It is a multi-domain effort that has the promise to deliver multiple kinds of technology driven results.

References:

1. Reviewing Meeting of the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.mea.gov.in
2. Joint Fact Sheet: The United States and India continue to Chart an Ambitious Course for the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology. (2024). Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov
3. Chaudhari, R. (2023). What is the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology? Retrieved from carnegieendowment.com
4. Siddiqui, H. (2024). India and US Strengthen Parternship in Critical and Emerging Technologies. Retrieved from financialexpress.com