President Joe Biden believes that the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (ICET) launched this week is key for the India and the US to create a democratic technology ecosystem, the White House has said while acknowledging that the geopolitical context played a role in driving the initiative.
Separately, national security advisor Ajit Doval met Secretary of State Antony J Blinken on Wednesday before wrapping up his visit to Washington DC and discussed global developments and the bilateral strategic partnership. Doval had led the talks on ICET with his counterpart, Jake Sullivan.
Responding to a question on how Biden saw ICET, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre recalled that the President and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the initiative back in May 2022 and directed their NSAs to spearhead the partnership.
“The President believes this initiative is key for the US and India to create a democratic technology ecosystem and reinforces our democratic values and our democratic institutions. We see this as an incredibly important initiative and a partnership that we have with India,” she said, highlighting the announcements made in the realm of defence innovation, semiconductors, space, 5G, and STEM talent. “We look forward to building on this momentum in the upcoming months and years.”
Asked if it was aimed at China, Jean-Pierre said, “You can’t ignore the geopolitical context that we live in.” But in an echo of what senior administration officials have emphasised in recent days, the White House said that the initiative was much more than that. “It truly is about something bigger than that: a relationship between two friends, two countries who have been partners for some time. As two of the world’s leading economies and democracies, it is in our interest to strengthen this partnership and deliver for our people, when you think about the economies and the people around the world.”
On the final day of his visit, Doval also met Blinken at the State Department. Blinken tweeted after the meeting, “The United States is expanding cooperation with India to address global challenges. I had a good meeting with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today to discuss deepening our strategic partnership.” The Indian embassy in Washington tweeted that both sides had “exchanged views on a wide range of global and regional issues of mutual interest” and ways to further strengthen the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership.
The two are understood to have discussed ICET with Blinken reiterating the administration’s full support to the initiative and commitment to remove impediments to deepen the tech partnership.
During his visit, Doval also met, among others, the chair of the Senate select intelligence committee Mark Warner, deputy secretary of defence Kathleen Hicks, and chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Mike Milley. The NSA was accompanied by the head of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, the chair of the Indian Space Research Organisation, the advisor to the Raksha Mantri, the secretary to the department of telecom, the head of the Indian Semiconductor Mission, all of whom also separate meetings with their counterparts in Washington DC besides participating in the ICET dialogue. A substantial business delegation comprising both defence and telecom majors as well as tech startups were also a part of the visit. This is the first time that India’s national security council has engaged in tech diplomacy of this nature, with the visit providing an opportunity for the top defence and scientific establishment of both countries to deepen bilateral understanding.
