US, India Launch New Bilateral Initiatives To Deepen Technology Partnership

To expand and deepen their technology partnership, the United States and India have launched a set of new bilateral initiatives welcoming new cooperation between the two governments, industry and academia in various domains.

Tuesday, the inaugural meeting of the U.S.-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) was held under the leadership of the National Security Advisors of the two countries in Washington, DC.

The two sides underlined their commitment to working to resolve issues related to regulatory barriers and business and talent mobility in both countries through a standing mechanism under iCET. This followed the January 30 roundtable hosted by the U.S.-India Business Council, which brought together more than 40 CEOs, university presidents, and thought leaders from the United States and India to accelerate opportunities for increased technology cooperation. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other senior U.S. and Indian officials attended.

India and the United States have signed a new Implementation Arrangement for a Research Agency Partnership between the National Science Foundation and Indian science agencies to expand international collaboration in a range of areas — including artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and advanced wireless — to build a robust innovation ecosystem between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to develop new bilateral Defense Industrial Cooperation Roadmap to accelerate technological cooperation between both countries for the joint development and production, with an initial focus on exploring projects related to jet engines, munition related technologies, and other systems.

The United States committed to expeditiously review an application it received from General Electric to jointly produce jet engines that could power jet aircraft operated and produced indigenously by India.

A new “Innovation Bridge” that will connect U.S. and Indian defense startups will be launched.

A task force will make recommendations to the Department of Commerce and the India Semiconductor Mission on opportunities and challenges to further strengthen India’s role within the global semiconductor value chain, and will also provide input to the U.S.-India Commercial Dialogue.

It has been agreed to strengthen cooperation on human spaceflight, including establishing exchanges that will include advanced training for an Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) astronaut at NASA Johnson Space Center.

Within the next year, NASA and ISRO will convene a meeting of U.S. CLPS companies and Indian aerospace companies to advance NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) project.

The United States and India will launch a public-private dialogue on telecommunications and regulations. This will include advancing cooperation on research and development in 5G and 6G, facilitating deployment and adoption of Open RAN in India, and fostering global economies of scale within the sector.

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