US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is set to visit India next week, with a primary focus on reviewing progress under the Initiative for Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). This visit highlights the growing cooperation between the United States and India, particularly in key areas like technology and security.
A senior White House source told reporters in Washington that the high-level meeting will focus on “compare notes on the Indo-Pacific” and also talk about “next steps in technology cooperation,”
Sullivan’s visit, scheduled for April 17, comes after the rescheduling of his earlier trip in February due to global crises in Ukraine and West Asia. His agenda includes high-level meetings with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on April 18, where they will be speaking about major initiatives like iCET and dig into a variety of aspects of the US-India relationship.
The iCET initiative, launched in May 2022 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden, aims to foster outcome-oriented cooperation in new and emerging technologies. It is jointly led by India’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and the US National Security Council (NSC).
At a press briefing on Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s official visit to the US, a White House official stated, “President (Joe Biden), one of the things that he’s proudest of is his efforts to build a stronger relationship between the United States and India. And I do believe, both in the Indo-Pacific and the Indian Ocean, and on key issues like technology, the United States and India are working more closely together than ever before
The partnership between the two nations has seen important developments across various sectors, including security, intelligence, and people-to-people exchanges. Sullivan, during a recent press briefing, lauded the collaboration between the US and India, stating that it has reached new heights in fields such as technology and security.
In his words, “The partnership between the US and India — a country in BRICS — has gone to new heights with an engagement across technology and security and so many other dimensions,”
During the speech of Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane at the second edition of the INDUS-X Summit in New Delhi, he highlighted the Defence Innovation Bridge as one of the major results of iCET. It acts as a catalyst for collaboration between Indian and US startups in the defense sector. This is an example of the observable outcomes of the bilateral collaboration that was started under iCET.
It is expected that the following meetings between Doval and Sullivan will strengthen their strategic alliances and look into ways to collaborate on technology even further. The involvement also demonstrates President Biden’s dedication to enhancing the mutually respectful and shared interests that have strengthened the relationship between the US and India.